


Parks and Prejudice

by ava_martini



Series: Ben & Leslie College Years [1]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, Angst, College, F/M, Hate to Love, Pining, Slow Burn, Young Love, benslie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2019-09-05 09:11:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ava_martini/pseuds/ava_martini
Summary: AU of the Parks and Recreation Gang in college with a plot similar to Pride and Prejudice. Benslie (Leslie Knope / Ben Wyatt) mainly.Side Relationships: Ann Perkins / Chris Traeger, Andy Dwyer / April Ludgate.Leslie Knope meets the most infuriating boy in college, Ben Wyatt, and would rather be caught dead than ever interact with him again.  But not everything goes according to her 5-year plan as the universe conspires to bring them closer to each other.





	1. Chapter 1

_It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single female college student in possession of a beautiful face, must be in want of a boyfriend._

That truth never applied to me, because, one, I don't consider myself beautiful and two, I don't want a boyfriend. Having a boyfriend would just ruin my five-year plan that I had mapped out for my college years. It was neatly compiled in a green binder, entitled, ‘Leslie Knope’s Five-Year Plan: Road to Graduation and After Graduate Studies’. I wanted to add a subtitle but it wouldn’t fit the side anymore.

But anyway, this universal truth did apply to my best friend, Ann. The minute we entered the Freshman Orientation party, she was already scouting around for good looking boys.

"Leslie! Oh my God, look at all these cute men!" She whispered excitedly in my ear. The music was loud but I could hear her well enough to roll my eyes at her.

"I don't think we can call these boys 'men' yet..." I looked at the group she was pointing at and was not surprised that they were a bunch of varsity looking dudes. "Remember the last time you had a varsity boyfriend?"

"Oh, God. You're right..." Ann pouted but kept her eyes on the jocks.

"Come on, let's go check out those sign-up sheets for extracurricular activities." I was hoping this would distract her for some time. I was not about to let her go down the rabbit hole of dating another athlete again. I had to comfort her for a week when we found out her last boyfriend was cheating on her.

As we headed to the first table, I immediately regretted it, though. Sitting on the table were two dark-haired upper levels that I knew already fell under Ann's category of 'hot' because they were older.

I felt Ann grip my arms tightly as she exclaimed, "Leslie! Do you see what I see?" Her smile widened as she turned on her charm. She walked ahead of me, practically hopping towards the table. I shook my head in resignation.

"Hello, ladies." One of the boys stood up to greet us, but the other stayed seated, his arms crossed and looked almost broodingly at us.

"Hi!" Ann's hand shot forward to accept the handshake that was offered to her. "I'm Ann Perkins."

"Ann Perkins." The boy pronounced every syllable of Ann's name in a weird intonation. "My name is Chris Traeger."

He turned to me and extended his hand. I shook it as I told him my name.

"Leslie," he paused and tilted his head slightly, "Knope. With a silent K, I hope?" I nodded and smiled to acknowledge his impromptu rhyming.

"This is Ben Wyatt." Chris gestured to the grumpy looking boy next to him. Ben just nodded his head and didn't even bother to look up. I raised my eyebrows at this.

_Wow, he looks like a fun guy._

I was a little bit intrigued by him. Usually, upper class-men who volunteered for this were a lot more enthusiastic to help the incoming freshmen. He, on the other hand, looked so bored and gave off the impression that he wanted to be anywhere but here. He was OK, face-wise. But his mood was a major downer.

And because I was focused on grumpy looking Ben, I hadn't noticed that Ann and Chris were already whispering things to each other in a flirting manner.

Oh boy. This was on me for steering her to this table. I hoped this Chris isn't one of those playboys. I felt a little awkward watching them, so I turned back to Meany Benny. I smiled at my witty name for him.

"So, what activities can I sign up for?"

"The list is on the table."

Seriously? This guy was getting on my nerves. If he didn't want to be here, why the hell did he volunteer then?

"You're not very helpful, you know." I replied curtly as I grab one of the papers from the table.

"Sorry." He mumbled, not really sounding sorry.

I wrote my name on the top and my student number and started checking things I knew I wanted to get into. I handed the paper back to him without a word. He took it and skimmed through the list. He glanced up at me and gave me a questioning look.

"You wanna take all these?"

"I checked them, didn't I?" I knew I was a little too sarcastic, but he started this tone so I wasn't about to start being all cute to him just because he paid attention to me.

"Debate, drama, comedy, social sciences, political sciences, psychology, anthropology..." Ben’s voice trailed off as he continued scanning the list.

"Yes. I plan to ensure that my college experience is maximized." He stared hard at me. I, of course, stared back. I admit I was a very competitive person. And I knew this staring contest was not really a competition. But if it was, I had to win…

He lowered his eyes first and looked back at my form. I smiled triumphantly.

_Ha! I win!_

He was obviously done talking to me. And I wanted to be far away from him as I possibly could. I gestured to Ann that I was going to the ladies room, or as I like to call it, the whiz palace. She waved her hand and went straight back to chatting with Chris.

I was glad there was no one in the rest room. I could stare at myself for as long as I wanted without getting funny looks from other girls.

Looking back at me through the mirror was a messy blonde-haired girl wearing a loose ratty white t-shirt that said 'I ❤️ Pawnee'. I looked like I was raised by hippies.

I ran my hand through my short curls to settle the frizz, wiped a smudge on my face that Ann hadn't pointed out earlier and re-applied my pink lip gloss before I left the whiz palace.

Hearing my stomach grumble reminded me that I needed to get something to eat. I headed to the buffet table and started filling up my plate, adding double portions to share with Ann. I was sampling the brownie when I saw Chris and Ben standing in the punch corner. I was near enough so, that I could hear everything they were saying but they hadn't noticed me yet.

"Ann is amazing!" Chris said to Ben excitedly. "She is full of life and laughter. She is literally the most beautiful girl in this building."

"At least one of us is enjoying this..." Ben mumbled.

"I'm so, sorry that this isn't more fun for you. Hey, what about Ann's friend, Leslie? It looked like you guys were talking for a bit there."

"Ech... She's so... Type A... And seriously, she isn't as pretty as Ann. She looks like a fucking mess, really. I don't wanna waste my time on her."

At this point, a huge chunk of brownie that I had tried to swallow got stuck in my throat. As much as I wanted to stay invisible, or melt on the floor or possibly die from overhearing what Ben said, I had to cough to dislodge the brownie.

My tiny cough caught both boys attention and their heads turned towards me.

"Sorry, *cough*, brownie, *cough*, throat..." I tried to explain between cough as I pounded a little on my chest.

Ben and Chris looked horrified. Maybe there was even a little sneer on Ben's face, I didn't care. I knew my face was all red both from choking and from overhearing something private and so, I abruptly turned my back at them to look for Ann.

I finally spotted Ann near the entrance. My mind re-winded the little exchange Chris and Ben had as I made my way to her. They were obviously buddies by the way they candidly spoke to each other. Then my mind gets to the part where Ben said all the stuff about me.

Oh, my God. What a jerk! How dare he call me a mess. I'm the only one that can call myself that! What a jerk! Wait, I think I mentioned that already... Well, he is a jerk. Ugh! Why do I even care? I don't care! I don't. I really don’t…

I repeat that last lines over and over until I reached Ann.

"Leslie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing..."

"Spill it, you look all flustered!"

"Oh, I just overheard Ben say nasty things about me." I gave a little laugh to pretend it was something funny and not embarrassing at all.

"What? Oh my God, what did he say?"

"It’s nothing. I doesn’t matter, really..." I didn't want to admit even to myself that maybe it did affect me a little and I wanted Ann to drop it because repeating what he said was embarrassing.

"You wanna go? We can bail if you want, Chris already has my number and he said he'll call me tomorrow."

I rolled my eyes at this. I could already predict this would be a problem because Chris's friend was someone I wanted to avoid from now until eternity. And if Ann started dating Chris then it might become too hard for me to make that possible.

I didn't want to deal with all this what ifs, though. My brain was already cloudy from having to hear hurtful and truthful words about me.

"Yeah, fine, let's go." I took a peek behind me as we pushed open the door to the outside world. To my horror, I saw Ben staring at me. I caught his eyes and he haughtily turned his face back to Chris.

Oh God, he doesn't even look remorseful about what happened.

_Well, fuck on a spatula._

I don't care about Mean Ben. I wouldn't waste my time on him too. And I hope I never see him again.

The satisfaction of cursing him in my head was enough to erase the hurtful words he said. At least for the time being...


	2. Chapter 2

_I am big enough to admit that I am in big fucking trouble._

Two weeks in college and it already hit me hard that I was way out of my league. Being a straight A student in high school meant nothing. I was supposed to be super chill all the time, but my anxiety was at an all-time high. I have a five-year freaking plan mapped out for crying out loud, how could I be having problems adjusting?

But here I was, drowning in reading materials and books borrowed from the library. OK, maybe they weren't all assigned readings but they were all something I needed to read to get ahead.

Once I got around to all my classes in the first week, I realized that I hadn't prepared enough for the lectures. I wasn't able to answer 3 out of 5 questions raised by my professor during the discussion. Can you believe it? 3 out of 5? That's like the worst I've ever done in class.

Also, I think my roommate might be a witch and she scares the crap out of me.

She graduated early in high school and was accepted in the same scholarship that I was in. But she didn't seem as fazed as I was. Right now, April was sitting on her bed with earphones on and typing away on her laptop. And I knew it wasn't about schoolwork because I took a peek at it earlier when she went out to get something from the vending machine. I swear it looked like she was on a forum for dark arts and witchcraft or something.

I have tried multiple times to start a conversation with her but she would only answer with a few words and then put her earphones back on. She had this intense look on her face when she was on her laptop.

And one time, I thought I heard her mumbling something. I think she was reading a spell in Latin or Spanish... I can't really tell the difference. But I was afraid I'd wake up in the middle of the night to find her hovering over me. That never happened of course, but my imagination gets the best of me sometimes.

I was currently highlighting important paragraphs on one of the readings when my phone started ringing. I checked caller ID and saw Ann's name.

I was surprised to get a call from my missing-in-action best friend. She started dating Chris, no surprise there. And as it usually goes when she starts a relationship, I would always get ignored. I'd receive short messages like, 'going out with Chris' or 'can't hang out tonight' from her, which was fine with me because it let me focus on my classes.

"Leslie Knope speaking. What's up, BFF?"

"I know who I'm calling, Leslie, do you really need to always answer your phone like that?"

"Yes, Ann. That's how professional people answer their phones. And one day, I'll be a government official and I will have perfected this professional tone."

"Right... Anyway, are you free tonight?"

"I have a ton of reading to do..." I looked at the paper in my hand and realized that I had actually highlighted every line on the page.

"Can you do them tomorrow? It's Friday, Leslie! I want you to come join me tonight. I'm going out again with Chris and it's getting serious. I need your blessing on this. Please?"

This always happened. Ann would go out on her dates and after a few dates she would ask me to tag along so I could 'read' the vibe. In the end she never took my advice if I hated someone she was dating. But I did need a night off, the mountains of books would still be there when I got back.

"OK, fine."

"Yay! See you later! Love you! Bye!"

********************

Ann and I entered the restaurant and found a cozy spot while we waited for Chris. This was some kind of hip establishment with a live karaoke setup on stage. That excited me because I always loved the chance of performing in front of audiences.

Ann ordered milkshakes and some appetizers for us. And we started talking about our classes. I complained that I was drowning in school work and she assured me that I would get the hang of it soon and find my footing.

I was thinking about her advice when I saw two boys enter the restaurant. I almost spit my milkshake out. One of them was Ben.

What the fuck is Ben doing here? Why would Chris bring Ben with him?

I looked at Ann who hadn't seen them yet and she saw the shock on my face.

"What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell me Ben's coming?"

"What? I didn't know he was bringing him." Ann looked behind her to confirm what I said. "Shit, I never told Chris how we felt about Ben... I'm so sorry, Leslie!"

I eventually told her what Ben said about me, the very next day of the incident. And we both agreed that we would add him to our list of people to never interact with again. The list was mostly composed of Ann's exes and a few mean girls in high school. But now the last entry on our list was heading towards us.

Ben caught my eyes and I hoped to God that I didn't look as frantic as I felt. Why the heck was seeing him making me panic? I've had weeks of school to squash that horrible experience behind me and whenever it threatened to re-surface I would dive back into studying harder. Of course seeing the cause of the embarrassing moment made the feelings come crashing back. I had hoped that I'd never see him again and avoid admitting to myself how much it affected me, but that was wishful thinking on my part.

His face was unreadable. No smile, nothing, he had his same I'm-bored-as-fuck look he had since I last saw him. They finally reached us and they slid into the booth making me come face to face with Ben.

Thank God he was looking at the stage behind me instead or else he might recognize the intense kill-me-now expression on my face.

Chris leaned over the table to give Ann a kiss. He then turned his attention to me, "Leslie Knope! I'm so glad you could make it! When Ann said you were joining us, I asked Ben if he wanted to come along."

Chris gave Ben a nudge, "Ben, say hi." Ben gave his friend an annoyed look.

"Hi." Ben said dryly and to no one in particular.

Wow, Ben was still acting like a class A jerk. He couldn't even be bothered to politely greet us like a normal person would.

Chris excused himself to order some drinks and food at the register, dragging Ann with him. I gave the back of Ann's head an evil look.

_How dare Ann leave me behind with Ben!_

After a few seconds of silence and me staring at my drink, I finally found the courage to look over at him.

Crap, he was staring at me. He was probably judging my disheveled look. My hand goes to my hair instinctively, trying to sort any loose strand back into place.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." He said as he stood up abruptly.

"Oh you mean, the whiz palace."

"What?"

"The whiz palace, you know, like-- Never mind..."

He paused as if thinking of a reply but then continued on his way.

I let out a long breath that I didn't realize I was holding. It was so obvious how he didn't want to be around me, so, why he even bothered coming baffled me.

********************

32 minutes and 15 seconds had gone by. Yes, I was counting the seconds too.

We finished eating our food and Chris and Ann are talking about some healthy alternative lifestyle that they were both interested in.

I was happy for Ann, Chris seemed like a good guy and they both seemed to share a lot of things in common. He was always laughing and had a lot positive things to say. When he opened his mouth it was like sunshine poured out of it.

Which is perfect for Ann because I always tell her that she is like a brilliant sun without the harmful UV rays.

His friend on the other hand was at a polar opposite. For the past half hour, Ben drank and ate in silence. He watched Ann and Chris intensely, it was starting to creep me out actually. He never smiled when Chris and Ann were being cute and flirty.

Once or twice I would catch Ben looking at me but he averted his eyes every single time. As if looking at me would make him catch some kind of deadly virus.

I tried to ignore Ben the Jerk's judging eyes and tried to enjoy myself. I was cracking jokes here and there which got Chris and Ann doubling in laughter. I might have even seen Ben smile once or twice, which I thought wasn't possible. But apparently he was actually capable of that emotion.

The host on stage announced Chris and Ann's name. Their song had come up. They made their way up to the front, laughing and giggling the whole time. Leaving me alone again with No Fun Ben.

"So, why are you really here?" The silence was deafening and I asked the first thing that popped into my mind. I looked at him and made eye contact, which surprisingly he was able to hold this time.

"Uh, Chris invited me."

"You know I was coming right?"

"Yeah."

"And you said yes even though you hate me?"

"I don't hate you..."

"Ah right, you just don't want to waste your time on me?" I said with a smug smile, quoting his words to him.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but I seemed to have rendered him speechless as he closed it again and looked down at his drink instead. I felt a sense of triumph. I was mentally high-fiving myself.

_Oh yeah, that's one point for Team Leslie._

He looked over to the stage and watched Ann and Chris laughing at each other while singing. His brows furrowed and curiosity was clawing at me. He has been having this same reaction every time he looked at them. Maybe he had some kind of crush on Ann and was jealous.

"Chris and Ann seem to hit it off." I opened the topic to test my theory.

"Ann's a distraction." Ben replied offhandedly.

"What do you mean?"

"Chris should be focusing on his classes. Not on a new girlfriend." He shrugged as if this statement was a conclusion to be had.

"I don't think it's your call what Chris should or should not do." I was starting to feel a little defensive. I felt like he was attacking Ann.

"He's my best friend. I'm just looking out for him. You probably do the same to Ann."

I wasn't able to give my reply because I heard my name being announced on the mic. I looked behind me to see Ann gesturing for me to come on stage. I was happy for the interruption. I didn't want to start an argument with Ben and I had a feeling that was where we were headed to.

"Excuse me, I have to go entertain my fans."

I excitedly head to the stage, glad to be far away from Ben, wondering what song Ann picked for us.

Chris made his way back to the table and he was beaming at us that even up on stage I could see his pearly white teeth. I saw him playfully punch Ben's arm when he sat next to him. He was probably trying to get Ben to lighten up.

Ann and I did our rendition of Time after Time, with complete dance moves from Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, a movie that we both loved.

This was the first time I relaxed since school started and all my worries were replaced with the high of being on stage and making people laugh. We were definitely working the audience. I could see Chris laughing along with the crowd. Ben's expression was still hard to read but at least it wasn't the same bored dumb look anymore.

We were Back at our table after our song and dance number and Chris was handing out praises like free candy. It felt good for a while and even Ben didn't seem as moody. But once Chris and Ann started with their public display of affection again, Ben transformed back to his serious mood and it worried me what he might be thinking about Ann.

He can say all the mean things he wants to say about me, but if he so much as says one nasty thing about Ann, then he will feel the wrath of Leslie Knope.

_******************** _

"Hey, you Okay?" April's voice filled the dorm room.

I snapped out of the black hole that my mind was diving into. After dinner, Chris had volunteered to drive us back to our places. They dropped me off first and since I'd been back I had just been sitting on my bed and apparently staring into nothingness the whole time.

"Yeah... No. Not really..."

April stared at me and I could read in her eyes that she was probably debating whether to ask me what's wrong or if she should put her earphones back on.

I helped her out by not waiting for a reply, "Well, there's this boy. And I really really don't like him. But at the same time, I keep thinking about him. But I'm thinking about how I really really don't like him. And I know he doesn't like me too. Which is fine because I don't care. But at the same time, I think I do care? Because, why do I keep thinking about it?" I was probably not making any sense, hell, I even confused myself hearing my thoughts out loud.

"Okay... So, you're thinking about a boy who doesn't like you but you want him to like you?"

"I don't want him to like me. Because I don't like him. He's rude. He's arrogant. He stares a lot. He's mean. And he's a jerkface."

I looked at April and saw the confusion on her face, "Never mind. It's stupid. Can you just help me make a voodoo doll of him and we can stick pins in it?" April's face lit up at my joke, which made me realize that she probably thought I was serious.

Oh boy... 


	3. Chapter 3

_Sweater weather. God, I love that phrase._

It was the perfect combination of cold air and warm sun that made studying a whole lot bearable. April and I decided to hang out in the huge park in front of our dorm. They called it 'Freedom Park' and it was a long stretch of field covered in beautiful dark green grass. It was the venue for most major events hosted by the university. I hoped someday I could have a career in building parks like this.

April was scrolling through her phone and listening to some music on her earphones. I had my nose buried in a book. One of ten that I was supposed to finish reading this weekend. But I couldn't concentrate because I was half reading and half people watching, which is one of my favorite pastimes. I was waiting for Ann to arrive, I texted her earlier and I hoped she wouldn't bring Chris so we could have one of our long overdue girl talks.

I saw Ann appear from across the field and watched as most of the boys turned their heads to stare at her. Ann in tight jeans and pink sweater with her silky brown hair billowing in the wind was a sight to behold, she always turned heads when she entered a room. I was really not surprised that Chris fell hard for her. Who could resist such a marvelous land mermaid?

Ann found a spot next to me on the soft blanket and she greeted April. April glanced up and gave Ann a thumbs up then went back to whatever it was she was watching on her phone. Ann turned to me and we start gabbing away about exciting things that happened during the week. I didn't have a lot to contribute aside from complaining about how much studying I needed to do.

"Oh by the way... I have a huge favor to ask you." Ann said with a little hesitation. This worried me because it was probably about Chris or worse, Ben. I haven't seen Ben since that date Ann dragged me to. Well, I've seen him more than once around campus, but I never approached him. He was always in deep conversation with someone. Mostly girls. I mean, not that I cared. But I just noticed that he didn't have the same pained look he had when he talked to me.

"What is it?" I asked suspiciously.

"Chris is hosting a dinner gathering at his house. And I need you to come with me." Ann said with pleading eyes.

"Is Ben going to be there?"

"Um. It's a party for Ben." Ann fidgeted with the blanket and couldn't meet my eyes. "It's Ben's birthday."

"No."

"Please, Leslie." Ann took my hand and gave me her puppy-eyed look. "I know you don't like Ben. But Chris's dad is gonna be there and I'm freaking out. I need my best friend there with me, please."

"No, Ann. You'll end up spending most of the time with Chris and I'll just be that odd person that Ben is forced to talk to."

"There'll be other people there. We can take April with us!"

"I'll go." April piped up all of the sudden, which made me wonder if she had been listening the whole time.

"Uggggghhhh. Oh my God, fine." Ann gave me a tight hug when she heard my answer. I swallowed the annoyance that emerged just from thinking about the possibility of having another awkward encounter with Ben. Ann looked so relieved that I felt a little better about this decision. This was a big deal for her to meet Chris' dad and I should be there to make sure things go smoothly. That's what best friends are for.

"So, it's kind of a formal party. Did you bring any dress from home?"

"Yeah, I think I have one."

"Yay! I'll come by your dorm tomorrow. Chris is getting his driver to pick us up."

Driver? I gathered that Chris was rich from some of the things he's treated and given Ann. But formal dinner parties and a driver. That sounded too rich…

****************************

I brought one dress. It was a shiny green dress that went down to just above my knees. Unfortunately, I did not bring any formal shoes with me. April's size was too small and Ann's feet were bigger than mine. I was left with only one choice of closed shoes… My favorite red sneakers. I know they were far from formal but it was either that or wear flip flops and the sneakers were definitely a better choice.

April said I looked okay if I was going for dull, I didn't take offense because I've gotten used to April's sarcastic remarks by now. I gave her a Leslie Knope trademark compliment when I saw April looking cute in her blue dress.

Ann arrived and as always, looked stunning, she was wearing a black dress. Her hair was up and her makeup was subtle. She looked so naturally beautiful. I often wondered how we got to be friends in the first place. She could have picked any popular group in high school, but instead she chose to hang out with someone like me.

I pointed to my shoes and she assured me that it was fine. Although, I saw a little worry in her eyes. Which made me self-conscious. This party sounded fancy and I could confirm that with just how elegant Ann's dress looked. But I was just probably overthinking this. It was a party for a 20-year old boy, it can't possibly be that formal.

****************************

I was wrong. I was dead wrong. I knew I was wrong the minute the limousine pulled up in front of our dorm. People were giving us weird looks as we got in. It's not every day you get to see a long black shiny vehicle pull up in a dormitory full of students. Then I started getting a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach as soon as we turned into a driveway that looked like those grand driveways you see in the movies. And now I definitely knew that Ann would have to drag me out of the car because Chris' house, correction, Chris' mansion came into view and I was not prepared for it.

"What the fuck, Ann?" I turned to Ann and realized that my friend looked nervous. "You didn't tell me Chris was some kind of billionaire!"

"I didn't know! I mean, I knew he was rich. But I'm just as surprised as you are!"

"Oh my God, they have one of those huge garden mazes!" April said in amazement, pointing at the beautifully maintained wall of hedges.

All three of us sat in silence as we marveled at the huge mansion that our ride was slowly approaching. I suddenly felt self-conscious again about what I was wearing. But I took a deep breath and squashed that feeling. I was doing this for Ann. I didn't care what these people thought of me. I would see them today and then never again. At least that's what I kept telling myself.

We stumbled out of the limo and made our way into the entrance. Some fancy butler in a suit took our coats and we followed him as he lead us to where the party was. I realized that none of us have said a word since we got out of the car. It was like we were invited to some kind of secret society and we took in everything we saw with wonder.

The butler opened a huge door and gestured for us to go in. April went in first, her curiosity getting the best of her. Ann and I exchanged a quick look, her hand reached out to mine and I held on tightly as we walked into the room hand in hand. There was a moment of me trying to find my breath as the beautifully decorated room filled my view. Everything looked like something straight out of what you see in movies where rich people held small parties. The design looked like pages of lifestyle magazines come to life. There was soft classical music playing in the background. It was an event planner's dream setting.

I took a look around and assessed the situation. I counted at least ten people, five adults and the rest were around our age group. I saw Chris, Ben and another guy talking to each other. The new guy saw us first and he smiled and excitedly made his way to our group. Chris and Ben followed behind him.

"I know you," he said pointing to Ann. "And you must be Leslie Knope. Ben told me so much about you." He gave me a bear hug which took me by surprise. First because, what does 'Ben told me so much about you' even mean? What could Ben possibly tell this boy about me? And second, his bear hug almost lifted me off the floor.

Andy released me from the tight hug and pointed to April, "And I don't know you." He shoved his hand in front of April. "I'm Andy Dwyer, Ben's roommate. Lead Singer of Mouse Rat, greatest band on campus."

"I'm April, Leslie's roommate." I could see April's eyes widen as she took in this giant boy's bubbly personality. Andy, like the other boys, was wearing a tuxedo, but his looked a little too tight on him.

Chris gave Ann a peck on the cheeks and welcomed everyone. Ben gave us a lopsided smile.

"Happy Birthday, Ben." I handed him a red square box. I had rummaged through my things yesterday to find something to give him. He opened the box and took out a small pin of a horse's head with a banner that said 'Li'l Sebastian'. He raised his eyebrow at this and looked at me for an explanation. "Um, sorry, I didn't have time to buy a gift. It's um, this really famous miniature horse we have back home."

"Right. Thank you." He closed the box and placed it on the table with all the other gifts. My red box looked so out of place beside the neatly wrapped ones.

Two young women joined us. Ben introduced his sister, Stephanie. The other was Stephanie's friend, Shauna. Stephanie seemed nice and greeted us shyly. Shauna, on the other hand, gave me a head-to-toe look as Ben introduced me to her. Her gaze fell on my sneakers and I knew she was silently judging me. Compared to her jewel studded heels, my battered sneakers were a sight for sore eyes.

"Nice shoes." She said nonchalantly.

"I think it looks cool." Ben said quickly. I was surprised at Ben's reply. And it seemed that Shauna was too because she gave Ben a weird look. I was a little suspicious if he meant it as a compliment or if he was mocking me.

"Thanks." I answered timidly. I still felt like an out of place broccoli in a box of chocolate.

Ben leads the group to the adults and introduced each one of us. I got to meet Chris' dad, Ben's mom and their friends. Then we were escorted to our seats at this long dining table lined with expensive looking spoons and forks and table decorations. I look over to Ann and April and we were all staring at the forks and spoons wondering which one to use. April picked up the knife and pretended to slit her throat with it. Andy laughed at this and they were now pretending to sword fight using the knives. I was happy April was enjoying herself. She and Andy seemed like they fit. I was half afraid April was just going to be anti-social all throughout college. This makes me hopeful that she found someone she felt at ease with.

Ann, on the other hand, was awfully quiet and I knew she was nervous and hoping to make a good impression on Chris' dad. She wasn't her usual charming self. I know she can easily charm Chris's dad but because she was really nervous about it, she clammed up instead.

I was thinking about how to get Ann to relax when the appetizers were being served and people started eating and having light conversation with those seated next to them. I tried my best to copy whatever utensil Ben was using for his food. Why people needed five different kinds of forks greatly amused me.

I glanced up to see Shauna staring at me. She smiled when we made eye contact and then said, "So, Leslie. Tell us more about yourself." Why she was interested to know anything about me was baffling, but I played along anyway.

"Well, I'm a freshman and I plan to major in politics."

"Wow, politics can be so boring though." Shauna laughed at this and continued with her questions. "What are your hobbies?"

"Leslie is a great singer." Ben interjected. I turned to face him, to see if he was joking. But he looked dead serious.

"Oh really. Who did you study under? I was trained by a Juilliard alumni."

"I, I studied under my shower..." Ben smiled at this but Shauna seemed annoyed with my answer. Her interrogation continued and I answered them all, trying to cut back on sarcastic replies.

Shauna continued, "What is your ultimate goal in life?" This question caught the attention of the grownups.

This was an easy one, I always had the same answer for this. "I'm going to be the future president of the United States." Everyone went quiet. Ben gave me a weird look.

"That's a very tall dream, young lady. You have to start early to get there." Ben's mother said. "Benji here ran for mayor when he was 18 and although he was impeached, I think that it's his ticket to the top." The other grownups agreed and they went back to their normal conversation.

I hadn't moved on yet from learning that Ben was the 18 year old mayor I was so jealous about when the news broke out. I can't believe he had already accomplished something I would die for.

The food kept flowing and Shauna left me alone for the remainder of the dinner. Ben's mom made a speech and thanked each one of us for attending. Chris then took us to the back of the house where his room was located. It was detached from the main house and was next to the pool area. Andy and April sat on the edge of the pool. Andy had his pants rolled up as they dipped their feet in the water. Chris and Ann were nowhere to be found and I assumed they were in his room probably making out. Stephanie and Shauna were talking in one corner which left me alone with Ben again. So much for Ann's plan.

"So, you were mayor huh?"

"I was. Until I was impeached for depleting the town budget." He gave me a smile, "And my mom grounded me for possibly ruining my political career."

"I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous that you got to be mayor. It's always been my dream to run for office someday."

"Well now, I have to work really hard to get back into the game. I have to make up for the whole mayor debacle so I can run for office again."

It's hard to believe that Ben and I have something in common. And it kind of explains why he's so serious all the time. He's really just striving to clean up a scandal.

I shiver suddenly as a cold wind blows. We had forgotten to take our coats with us and I saw Andy offer his jacket to April.

"Hey, are you cold?" Ben asked. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around me. He rubbed my shoulders to help keep me warm. But instead of keeping me warm, it was sending a different kind of shiver down my spine.

What the fuck is happening right now?

My thoughts were interrupted with Stephanie's voice. "Ben could you come here for a second? I need your help on something." Ben excused himself and walked over to Stephanie. Shauna took this as an opening to head over to me. Great, another round of questioning.

"What's your deal, Leslie?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you after Ben's money?"

"What?" My brain was having a hard time connecting Shauna's mean words with the sweet tone of her voice.

"We both know that you and Ann are way out of your league here." She looked pointedly at my sneakers. Which I desperately wanted to use to kick her into the pool.

"What the fuck are you saying right now?" I said, unable to hold back.

"I belong here, Leslie. This is my world. Ben's mother has big plans for me to join the family." She took a sip of her drink as if this conversation was nothing but casual for her. "I don't plan to have you ruin that for me." She flashed me a closed lip smile, showing of her dimple.

"Look, Shauna. I don't know why you're saying these things to me. Believe me, after today, I plan to stay the fuck away from this whole thing."

"Great. That's really good to hear. Because you don't belong here. You probably just got into the university through a scholarship, right? Better keep those grades up, Leslie. Focus on your classes. Or you might end up going to one of those community colleges, where you really belong." I was taken aback at the way she could say all this with such a sweet expression on her face.

I shut her up when I said, "It's also really good to hear how threatened you are by someone you consider beneath you."

I was so happy to see Ann and Chris emerge from the door. I was seconds away from slapping Shauna in the face. I brushed past Shauna and she spilled her drink a little. I walked to Ben and handed him his jacket back roughly. I mumbled happy birthday to him and thanked him for a wonderful dinner. I turned to Chris and told him his home was lovely. Then I gestured for Ann and April.

"It's time to go." I didn't wait for their answer as I turned and started walking towards the main house. I knew I was getting stares from all of them, but I didn't care. I was too angry to care.


	4. Chapter 4

_JJ's Dinner waffles taste better. Hands down._

What I had in front of me is a second rate, trying hard, copycat. But waffles are waffles, I still couldn't resist them. I added double the whip cream toppings to make up for it. I looked at my watch and confirmed that my project partner was five minutes late. My waffles are almost done, if he doesn't appear soon, I'll have to order another. Although, that wasn't a really bad idea.

The door to the café opened and my partner, Tom Haverford, swaggered in. He was my classmate in Business Management 101 and due to some random partner generator that our professor used, we are now assigned to work together on a presentation that is due next week. We had to come up with a business idea and present it to the class.

"Hey beautiful, hope you weren't waiting too long for me." Tom sat down in front of me and looked at the menu. I took this time to assess him as we would be working together for a week and I hoped that he wouldn't cause me to get a bad grade in this class.

Tom was dressed in expensive clothes, I could tell because a famous logo was embroidered on them. He also had a very confident air about him. He looked foreign, though he did speak with a perfect accent. Maybe he was born in Libya and grew up in America. And the fact that he called me beautiful meant that he was a charmer. Not my type though. If I even had a type.

What is my type? Hmmm, I'd have to think about that one.

He called for a waiter, placed his order and turned his attention to me. "Alright, let's talk business. I have a thousand ideas that we can use." And with that, he started shooting off his ideas one by one. Some of them, nay, most of them were very absurd ideas. Online butler, Swaggerbook that was kind of like Facebook but for cool people, gourmet cafeteria food, vending machines that spray you with perfumes, glitter condiments... And he just kept rattling on one after the other.

"Okay, pause!" I gave him a time out gesture.

"Too many to keep up? I'll give you a few minutes to think them over and we can go with the one that speaks out to you." His food arrived and he took a few minutes to capture photos of them. I had to stop him when he wanted to stand on his chair and take a shot from that angle. He was going to break his neck for an Instagram post. He finished posting them online and started eating his food.

"Three questions." Tom said looking seriously at me. "Which idea are we going to present? Are you single? And will you go out with me?"

"I haven't decided yet, yes and no, in that exact order."

"No? But, but can't you feel the chemistry between us?"

"Tom, this is the first time we have ever talked longer than 5 seconds. And most of the talking has been done by you. What chemistry are you referring to?"

Tom reaches out and places his hand on top of mine. "Leslie, you can't deny it. Your genes and my genes, we would be doing the world a favor."

Before I could react, a looming shadow appeared next to our table. "Hey, Leslie." I looked up and saw that it was Ben. Ben staring suspiciously at Tom's hand over mine. He turned to me with a questioning look, "I'm sorry, are you guys on a date?"

"Yes." Tom answered quickly.

"No, we are not." I snapped, shaking his hand off of mine.

"Not yet." Tom looked back and forth between me and Ben, waiting for an introduction.

"Tom, this is Ben Wyatt. Ben this is Tom Haverford, my project partner."

"Ben Wyatt?" There was shock in Tom's voice. "The Benjamin Wyatt?"

"Yes."

"Dude, isn't your mom like on the list of Fortune Magazine?"

Of course she is... I wasn't surprised to hear this at all.

"Yeah." Ben mumbled.

"Here, come sit with us." Tom said, patting the empty space next to him.

I wanted to kick Tom hard on the shin. If I wouldn't end up losing my scholarship, I would hurt this little man in front of me. "I don't think that's a good idea." I gave Tom my sternest look. "We have a lot to talk about for our presentation." But my protest was of no use, Tom already grabbed Ben and was making him sit in the booth next to him. I bit the inside of my lip to keep from displaying my frustration.

"Ben can help us! This guy is a legend. He practically aced this class. I heard that his presentation blew everyone away and professor Dickhead even bought his idea so he could open up that laundromat business for himself."

"Professor Dickens." I corrected him. But my mind was now tumbling back to the events that occurred during his birthday party a week ago. I was already past this. We went home that night and I told April and Ann what happened and we all agreed that Shauna was bitch, Ann's words, not mine. Then I kicked my feelings down a pit and didn't bother with it again.

"I actually just wanted to ask how you were. You left the party in such a hurry, I wondered if something was wrong." Ben looked genuinely worried. I tried to remember what happened after Shauna confronted me. I think I shoved his jacket back in his hand too hard. And I might have forgotten to say goodbye to his sister.

"No, nothing was wrong. I remembered that I had to study for a big test on Monday." Also, your future girlfriend was marking her territory. I didn't say that last one, but I sure wished I did. I felt a bit sorry for him if they actually ended up together.

"Ok, well, I guess that clears it up. I have to get to my next class. But if you give me your number I could maybe text you some of my ideas and help you out with this project."

Ben was asking for my number. My number. I stared at him because I was stalling. I was trying to stay away from him. Why is he making it so hard?

"Here, I have her number in my contacts list." Tom started rattling off my digits to Ben. I wanted to take his phone and throw it to the furthest corner of the café. "You can save my number too. I'm down to hang out with you anytime."

"Thanks, I'll text you later." Ben gave me a smile, got up and walked out of the shop.

I smacked Tom really hard on the arm. "Why did you give him my phone number?"

"Owwieee!" He cried, rubbing his arm and pouted at me.

"I have been trying to avoid him since the day I met him!"

"Why? I mean, he's a nerd, sure, but he's like super rich. Everyone wants to be his friend, including me. Every girl I know wants to date him."

"I don't care if he's rich. Why does everyone assume I'm after his money? And I keep trying to avoid him because he is a jerkface."

"Jerkface? What does that even mean?"

"It means, I don't like him and I don't want anything to do with his world."

************************** *

I was walking back to my dorm, passing through Freedom Park along the way. Tom and I finished our discussion about the presentation and planned out each other's tasks. My phone vibrated and I grabbed it from my pocket.

'Hey. This is Ben.'

Gaaah! Why is this happening? The text notification showed up on my locked screen. I slipped the phone back into my pocket, I had no plans to reply.

I finally reached my dorm and settled down on my desk. I opened my laptop to start working on my side of the presentation. I had a few more hours till my next class. I took out my phone and placed it on top of the table. The notification from Ben's text was still there. I cleared it and went back to work.

I couldn't concentrate though. I kept glancing at my phone. It was like that feeling you have when a notification number on an app appears and you just want to click it and clear it out. I was using that as an excuse to read his text message. I read it more than once but I still didn't know what to reply so I just saved his number in my contacts.

Saved under first name "Jerk", last name "Face".

'Can I call you?'

The new message popped up just right after I saved his contact name.

_No, you most certainly cannot call me._ I thought to myself. This was starting to feel weird. I'm not sure why I felt so panicky.

'I'm not free atm.' I texted back in case he decided to call me if I didn't reply, locked the phone, and vowed never to reply to any of his new messages after this.

The phone vibrated again, this time it was an incoming call from Jerk Face.

Crap on a spatula. I silenced the phone and threw it on the bed.

Shit shit shit shit shit. It vibrated a few more times, informing me that there were new messages and then silence.

I tried to get back to work, but I just had to see what the new messages were. I groaned out loud and grudgingly fished my phone from my comforter.

There were two messages from Ben.

'Sorry, I hadn't seen your reply when I started calling.'

'Let me know when you're free.'

Why is he acting like we were friends? Did he want to be friends with me? Oh, God. I need to talk to Ann. I dialed Ann's number and it went to her voicemail. I left a panicky message for her to call me back as soon as possible. I hung up and stared at my phone for a while. I was startled when it started vibrating again. It was a longer message from Ben and I had to open it to see more.

'Mr. dickens likes graphs with lots of colors. And you're gonna want to focus on the return of investment. And add lots of statistics on your target demographics.'

Wow, OK, those were really good pointers. They were actually motivating me to start working on the presentation. I hit reply, typed 'thanks' and sent the message. Then I focused on my work until it was time to go to my next class.

****************************

I walked out of the classroom, my mind swimming in philosophers that I had to read up on. I noticed someone from my peripheral vision stand up quickly from a bench near the door.

"Leslie, wait up."

Nooooooo. Oh my God, is he following me? This can't be just my imagination. He was definitely waiting for me to come out. I stopped walking and was seriously contemplating on making a run for it and pretend I didn't hear. But instead, I turned around to face him. "Ben, what are you doing here?"

"I was hanging out with Andy and April. And April mentioned this was your last class today. I wanted to, uh, talk to you more about your presentation."

"Right, well I've done most of it already, thanks to your pointers. I was going to continue with it tomorrow. I've got some other assignments I need to work on. Ok, bye." I tried to turn around but his hand softly grabs my arm.

"Wait, I got you some waffles from this place that's really famous for making good waffles." He lifted up the plastic bag he was holding.

Waffles. He got me waffles.

"We could eat it together in the park."

Waffles in the park. He wants me to eat waffles in the park with him.

"Leslie, are you ok?"

"Huh?" I realized I hadn't replied and was just staring at his hand. "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm okay..."

"Do you want to hang out in the park?"

"Uh, sure." I could never say no to waffles. It's my one and only weakness. My Achilles heel. And he was dangling it in front of me.

We walked in silence. I didn't know what to say. And he seemed lost for words too. Thank, God, Freedom Park was just a few minutes away. We found an empty picnic table and he unpacked the bag, brought out the plastic forks and the box of waffles. He handed me one of the forks and he started digging in. He cut up some slices for me to take.

Ok, wow. These waffles were good. Maybe even at par with JJ's.

"Good?"

"Yes..." I may have sighed that yes to him because he laughed at my answer. "Ok, real talk. Why are you doing this again?"

"Doing what?"

"This." I gestured to the waffles laid out on the picnic table.

"I heard you liked waffles. From April."

Hmmm, April and I needed to have a talk later on. Why the hell was she telling him stuff about me. "Ok, but why are you bringing me waffles?"

"Because I needed an excuse to talk to you."

I'm not entirely dense. So, I'm pretty sure that was a declaration of his interest in becoming friends with me. But it was really weird why he was even interested. We came from different backgrounds. And I would never be comfortable in that world he lives in surrounded by fancy gold plated everything. Plus, I'm sure he has plenty of friends. Why doesn't he go hang out with Shauna if he was so bored. But because the waffles tasted awesome, I was going to try to be nice to him.

"All right. What do you want to talk about then?"

He thinks it over then finally asked, "What are your hobbies?"

I laughed at this, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm curious."

"That's a very trivial question. I'd end up telling you my hobbies and if none of them interest you, our conversation would come to a halt."

"What would you ask then?"

"How about, who's your role model? That way, once I tell you, you could come up with a dozen follow up questions."

"Alright, who's your role model?"

"Easy, I have a list, but my mother is my number one role model."

"And what does your mother do?"

"See, perfect follow up. My mother works for the local government under the Education Department in our home town."

We continued our conversation until the waffles ran out. It was surprisingly easy to talk to Ben. And it was going so well until Ann called. We paused our conversation as I talked to her on the phone. And like always, I noticed that Ben's smile turned into a frown.

"Hi Ann. No, I'm fine. Yeah, sorry, I left that awful voicemail. I'm fine, I promise. Um, I'm with Ben. Yes, really. No, I'm not joking. Ok, talk to you later. Yes, I promise I'll call." I hung up the phone and looked back at Ben. "Ok, spill. Why do you hate Ann?"

He remained silent. But I stared him down. Ben hesitated before he said, "I don't hate Ann. I just think she's not right for Chris."

"Not right for Chris? What do you mean?" There was a long pause. I crossed my arms in front of me. "What do you mean?" I repeat my words slowly.

"You know what I mean." Ben said softly.

"No, I don't know." I was starting to get annoyed. "What do you mean?" I emphasized on each word.

"She doesn't match his status quo." Ben finally blurted out.

It took me a second to process this. Did he just say that my best friend was not worthy of Chris? I took offense from this. I took huge offense. In fact, I was triggered. "What a load of bull crap."

"Look, you don't get it. Our families --"

"You're right, I don't get it. Thank you for the waffles. I think we are done talking. Good day, sir." I stood up and left him alone on the bench. I heard him call out my name but I was not going to sit there and let him look down on us from his high horse. I should have known.

_Once a jerkface, always a jerkface._


	5. Chapter 5

_I don’t want to be over-dramatic, but this morning felt like 100 years in hell._

My alarm did not wake me and I was now late for a major exam. For a class that had one of the strictest professor known in the university.

This was my worst nightmare. I have never been late for anything. I have 5 alarms set in intervals of 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot to plug my phone and the battery drained during the night. Possibly ruining my college career. And my life. And my goal of becoming the future POTUS.

I dressed in record speed and ran to class. What usually took ten minutes walking time, was cut in half, running as fast as I could, hoping against all hope that I would at least have a few minutes left to answer some questions.

But it was too late. I got there just in time to see my classmates filing out the door, each with a doomed expression on their face, telling me that they weren’t too confident about the test they just took.

I waited for all the students to leave, biting my nail while I planned what to say to my professor. I entered the classroom and saw him sitting at his desk counting the papers submitted to him.

“Professor Swanson. I’m so sorry, I had an emergency. And I wasn’t able to take the test today. Can I please take it at another schedule?” I asked with a high pitched voice that I couldn’t control.

He looked up and gave me the most unreadable nerve wracking stare. His mouth hidden behind a bushy mustache. His eyes narrowed at me. “Miss Knope. I do not care if the world was ending today. If you miss an exam, there are no retakes allowed in my class.” He said with a deep and steady voice that echoed in the empty classroom.

“Sir, I studied really hard for this exam. Ask me the hardest question on it and I’ll give you the answer.”

“This is not an oral exam, Miss Knope.”

“I understand. But please, maybe, maybe I can submit an extra project, to at least gain some points? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please?” I begged.

“The answer is, no. You may leave the room now. The exit is that way.” He pointed to the door.

I knew he would say no but it stung me anyway. I turned around abruptly to hide the tears that were forming in my eyes. I walked out of the room blindly, trying not to make a sobbing sound as the tears started flowing freely.

And since I couldn’t see where I was going, I walked straight into someone. Someone whose arms instinctively wrapped around me. And like a bumbling idiot, I cried into a stranger’s chest as I hugged my binder tightly.

“Are you okay?” I froze as I recognized his voice. This day was truly cursed as I realized that I had been sobbing into Ben’s chest.

I pulled out of his arms like I had been electrocuted. Why, oh, why did he have to be the one I bumped into on the worst day of my life? It’s like the universe wasn’t satisfied enough with my misery.

I wiped my tears with my sleeve and tried to walk past him. He blocked my path and held me at arm's length. “Leslie, what happened?” I told myself I would not breakdown again but you know how when someone asks you if you’re ok, when you’re really not and you just burst out sobbing again? Yeah, well that happened. And I was too weak to fight him when he pulled me back into his arms and lead me to a bench beside the classroom.

And so, I sobbed on his shirt for a good few minutes. Imagining the failing grade I would probably end up getting. Imagining my scholarship slipping away. Hearing myself sob louder and louder.

All the while, he was rubbing my back softly and whispering unintelligible words. I felt his chin on top of my head. It was such a gentle feeling and my tears started to lessen. All the things he was doing to comfort me, it helped calm me down and I started to form a plan to try to get the points I needed in class. It would mean perfect quizzes, recitations, really high score on my final test and the highest grade possible on the project due next week. But I would make sure I did all that. I could not afford to fail any class.

I inhaled deeply, and caught the scent of Ben’s cologne, which I hated to admit, smelled really sweet and musky and it made me weirdly crave for waffles. At this point though, I started to realize the awkward situation I was in. I slowly lifted myself up so he could loosen his embrace. He felt the movement and dropped his arms. I knew he was eyeing at me, waiting for some kind of explanation. But I couldn't make myself look at him. I didn’t want him to see my face. Which was probably all red and messed up.

I sniffled and I rummaged for some tissue in my handbag. He handed me a handkerchief which I used to wipe my eyes and blow my nose, making the most unflattering sound. I debated whether I should return the soiled handkerchief or keep it with me.

I decided to stuff it in my pocket and stared at the floor, feeling embarrassed. “Thank you." I paused, not knowing what else to say, "Um, I have to go.” I whispered, without looking at him. I stood and walked out of the building, thankful that he didn’t come after me.

***********************

I was done with crying and I was now fueled with the drive to set things right. Sitting at my desk, I wrote my strategic plan on my binder. Losing track of time and oblivious to anything happening around me. I needed to not fuck this up again.

There was a soft knock on the door. I knew it wasn’t April or Ann because they would just barge in. I opened it and was startled to see Ben. It had been hours ago that I left him on the bench and seeing him now made me remember how his hands felt on my back. Now that I was not distracted with a life-ending issue, all I could think about was that he had his arms around me earlier. And that I fit perfectly in it… I wanted to slam the door shut so I didn't have to confront my feelings.

He held up the plastic bag he was holding and I knew instantly what it was. My stomach betrayed me as it started to grumble. “I thought you’d be too busy to get some food in you, so I brought you some waffles.”

I grabbed the bag and I opened the door wider to let him in. He closed the door behind him and followed me into the room. I placed the waffles on my desk and I watched him sit at the bed, bouncing a little as if to test how soft it was.

I took the food out of the box and gave him one of the forks. I sliced up the waffles, putting more whip cream on my side. And we ate in silence. God, these waffles were really good.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” He asked after a few bites.

I sighed deeply. “I missed to take my Philo exam.”

“Seriously? You missed a Swanson Test?” Ben asked incredulously.

I nodded my head up and down like a kid, my fork still in my mouth. I bit the fork hard to prevent from crying. I promised myself I would not cry in front of Ben again.

“Don’t worry, you can still manage to get a passing score, if you get a high grade on the finals.” He assured me.

“Yeah. That’s the plan.” I smiled, gaining a little more confidence. “Um, thank you for this. And earlier too. I’ll return your hanky after I wash it.”

Ben shrugged. “You can keep it.” Then he gave me a look and said, “Hey, you want to get a—” But his question was cut off by Ann barging into my room. We both look at her direction, startled by her sudden entrance.

“Leslie, you haven’t answered any of my texts or calls!” Ann exclaimed as she entered the room. She then saw Ben sitting on the bed and it seemed like she was trying to make sense at what she was seeing. “Oh, I didn’t know you had company.” She gave me a questioning gaze.

Seeing Ann reminded me of what Ben had said yesterday in the park. I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to be infuriated with him. I hate how waffles can easily distract me…

I watched Ben’s reaction, waiting for it to change, but he didn’t scowl like he normally did. He stood up, looking embarrassed. “Uh yeah, um, don’t worry, I’ll be going now.” He turned to me and gave me a smile and a small wave.

Ann watched him leave and then she sharply turned to me. “Tell me everything!”

I motioned for her to sit on the bed and I sat beside her our backs on the wall and our feet sticking out. My head slumped on her shoulder as I told her what happened in class.

“It’ll be fine, Leslie. If anyone can survive this, it’s you.” She gave me a really long and tight hug and now I really did feel better. “Okay, now explain why Mean Ben was sitting on your bed. And why were you hanging out in the park yesterday?”

I honestly didn’t know where to start with that. “Uh, I think he wants to be my friend.”

“Fuck that Leslie, he wants to be more than friends with you!”

“No, shut up, Ann. I can assure you that he does not.” Ann didn’t know what she was talking about. She always jumped to this conclusion anytime a guy talked to me. Back in high school, she got my hopes up because a boy I was crushing on started hanging out with me and she said it was probably because he had a crush on me too. Lo and behold, the boy just wanted me to write his paper for him.

Plus, she did not know the whole story about Ben and I was not going to tell her. My best friend did not need to know how Ben doesn’t think she’s good enough for Chris.

Ann rolled her eyes at me. “Dude, does Ben look like a friendly person who just randomly wants to be friends with a freshman?”

“No, but he’s a real nerd and I happen to strike up interesting conversations with him.”

“I really don’t—”

I covered Ann’s mouth with my hand. “Please, can we just drop it? I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I don’t want to be his friend. I don’t want to be anything that involves him.”

Ann looked at me and I could see all the questions floating in her eyes. But she knew I was serious and didn’t pursue it.

***********************

Weekend came and we decided to hang out in one of the picnic tables at the edge of the park. Ann and I were sitting cross-legged on the bench. April and Andy were lying on top of wooden table, making out with each other.

I was reading a book and had my arm held out towards Ann as she practiced taking my blood pressure.

I was distracted by a group of boys, wearing uniformed blue shirts, walking towards the middle of the field. One boy in particular happened to be Ben but I pretended that I hadn’t seen him.

“Whoa, Leslie. Your heartbeat just spiked.” Ann said, writing her findings on her little notebook.

“Oh, uh, the book got a bit interesting.” I stubbornly refused to acknowledge the cause of my rapidly beating heart. If anything, it’s because I was still annoyed at Ben’s high and mighty attitude towards us lowly pheasants. He would fit in perfectly in Eagleton.

The group of boys reached the playing field and started throwing a Frisbee at each other. I watched from the corner of my eye, but my view was suddenly blocked by someone. I looked up to see a grinning boy who looked familiar.

He waved his hand to say hi. “Leslie, right?” I lowered my book and rattled my brain as I tried to remember where I’d seen him before.

“Yeah.”

“I’m Mark. Mark Brendanawicz. We have Philo together. I usually sit at the back and you’re always at the front row.”

“Oh yeah! I remember seeing you.” I shook his hand and I introduced him to everyone. April was now drawing on Andy’s arm with a sharpie. April paused to stare at Mark and Andy greeted him with grin and a nod. Ann excused herself to take a call from Chris and Mark took her place on the bench and sat next to me.

“What are you reading?” He asked as he tried to read the title.

“Just doing some advance reading on the topic for Monday’s class.”

“On a weekend?”

“Yeah, I want to get some points for recitation.”

“Ughh, I’m going to need extra points too. I probably failed that last exam. Did you answer the bonus questions?”

This topic was not helping my recovering anxiety. “Uh, I wasn’t able to take the exam.”

“What? How?” He gave me a stunned expression.

“Long story… Short version, I woke up late and missed it. I’m screwed if I don’t make up for it.”

“Ouch. Well, let me know how I can help.”

“Thank you.” I beamed at him. Mark seemed sweet. And nice. And cute. And tall. Really tall. Bulky too. Okay, where exactly were these observations leading me to?

“Do you want to walk with me to the other side of the park? There’s a vendor there that sells cotton candy. You look like you could use a treat.”

“Oh, my, God! I love cotton candy!” I may have said that too excitedly.

We walked side by side, heading towards the middle of the field where I spotted Ben and his friends playing from afar. I made a conscious effort not to look his way as we passed.

Mark bought me a pink cotton candy. We started biting into it as we walked back to our picnic table.

“I’m going to be so nervous on Monday. I feel like Prof Swanson hates my guts now.”

“Don’t be nervous. He hates everybody.” He reached out his hand to my face as he wiped a smudge of cotton candy on my cheeks. I could feel a blush creeping up my face as I felt his cold fingers brush against my skin. And then I felt a buttload of pain as something hard hit my head. Mark reacted instinctively and hugged me in a protective way, his hand covering my head.

“Oh, shit! Sorry!” I heard a voice yell across the field. A voice I knew too well.

I came out of Mark’s embrace and turned around to see Ben running towards us with an apologetic expression. His reaction changed to one of surprise when he recognized me and then I saw his eyes travel to Mark who was standing behind me with his hands were still on my shoulders.

Okay, I swear I saw Ben’s expression turn dark. It wasn’t like how he usually frowned at Ann. This was a murderous stare. And it was directed at Mark. It was the most intense and awkward few seconds I’ve ever experienced in my life.

Ben clenched his fist, bent down, grabbed his Frisbee and trudged back to his friends without saying a word.

“Uh, what the hell just happened?” I looked at Mark who had a mortified expression on his face. He shook his head and started walking back towards April and Andy again. I followed closely and tried to make sense of the little exchange that Mark and Ben just had.

I stopped and grabbed Mark’s arm to catch his attention. “Okay, wait, I’m quite sure I didn’t just imagine what happened.”

Mark hesitated and then sighed. “How well do you know Ben?”

“I don’t really know him. Most of the time he annoys me with the things he says.”

“Okay, so, last year I dated his sister." My eyebrows shot up at this information. Mark slipped his hands into his pockets as he continued, "But Ben thought I wasn’t good enough for her and he made her break up with me. And adding insult to the injury, he also discredited me on our joint project for an elective we both took, which made me get a failing grade.”

“Oh, my, God!” I couldn’t believe it. No, wait, actually, I could.

“But that's all in the past. And I sort of moved on. I don’t know why he still hates me. I should be the one that’s angry!”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you.” We started walking again and my head was swirling with images of Ben telling his sister that she shouldn’t date guys beneath their stature. It was exactly the same thing he’s doing to Chris and Ann.

“I’m not sorry though. I like that I’m single and available to date someone at this exact moment.” He gazed at me and gave me a devilish smirk.

I giggled. Yes, I fucking giggled like a young schoolgirl. I wanted to take back the sound but it already escaped my mouth. So, I just blushed from head to toe instead. This was not part of the five-year plan. But Mark's words were giving me feels. And with all the shitty things that have been happening to me, these feels were very much welcome.

_Mean Ben can rot in hell for all I care._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so sorry I took so long to post the next chapter. And I also apologize in advance for putting together this long chapter (the longest I have ever written in my fanfiction life) with not enough time to edit properly. It's messy but hopefully still readable and enjoyable. Also, I realized I misspelled Shauna's name so I'll be correcting that in the previous chapters.

_When you study closely with someone and you share similar interests and you have a similar world view and you're passionate about the same things, things can happen._

This is what I was feeling about Mark. I know I said I'm not interested in having a boyfriend, but I think I'm kind of starting to like him. He moved next to me in the front row during Philo class. And it made me less nervous. I was able to answer questions confidently, even with Professor Swanson's judging eyes staring unblinkingly at me. And Mark smiled at me every time he caught me looking at him. Obviously, I smiled back and maybe fluttered my eyelashes at him. Hopefully it looked cute and not like I had something stuck in my eye. I really need to practice these kinds of things in front of the mirror just to make sure.

He asked me to study with him and we've done a few study sessions in my room. Nothing ever happened but we joked a lot and laughed a lot. Maybe I should have initiated something, like pretended to accidentally touch his hand, see if there were any sparks between us. I wasn't really sure how these things go.

Note to self, ask Ann how to flirt with boys. Also note to self, ask Ann if heart palpitations will lead to heart problems in the future.

But okay, I think it's a full blown crush now. He hasn't asked me out on a date yet. Which makes me worry that he might not be interested and I'm just making an ass out of myself. Or maybe he's just building up the courage. I really should help him out then. I feel like some boys like it when the girl makes the first move.

I'd get the chance to test this theory soon enough as I was heading to his dorm to get my notes back. I was daydreaming about how Mark fixes his hair by running his fingers through it, when something caught my eyes. Ben was sitting on the steps of the Social Science building that was along the way to Mark's dorm. He was with Shauna, who was on her phone and Ben was reading a book. Ben and I hadn't talked since that Mark incident. And I was thankful for the reprieve.

_Out of sight, out of mind._

Okay, that's not entirely true in this case. Maybe I check my phone from time to time to see if he's sent me a text. He used to send me daily fun facts that were only fun if you were into nerdy stuff. I thought they were funny and I'd reply with something funnier. But after he saw me with Mark, he hadn't sent me any messages since. And to be honest, I sort of missed them. It was one of the first things I checked when I woke up in the morning.

He looked up from his book and saw me. He stared for a bit and I stared back as I kept walking past the building. I waited for him to wave or have any form of reaction, but there was nothing except his hooded eyes following me. Shauna yanked on his sleeve and he turned to her. I took this opportunity to walk faster so that when he next looked up I'd have disappeared.

I still don't really know how I feel about Ben. I always end up angry whenever I think about the stupid things he's said. But I also feel excited when I'm talking to him. Ugh, why can't my problems be simpler, like how to affect change in society? I have a thousand answers to that question but ask me stuff about boys and I'm just...

Oh, fuck it, why was Ben still on my mind though? I should focus more on Mark. Mark who actually talks to me like a normal human being and one that I can act like my normal self with. Being friends with Ben was toxic. I'd always have to watch out for Shauna who can somehow look and sound like an angel but can cut you with words. Plus, now that I know what he's done to Mark, I might not be able to talk to him without voicing out my opinion towards his past actions.

I finally reached Mark's dorm and he was waiting for me at the entrance. "Hey you." He gave me his usual grin as he greets me.

"Hey yourself." I sounded a little out of breath from the brisk walk. I ran my hand through my hair, fixing the tangles that the strong breeze had created.

"Here is your notebook. Thank you very much, Leslie. You are a lifesaver." He handed the notebook to me and our hands graze a little. Shit... Did I just feel sparks? Or did we just static electrocuted each other. I hoped to God he felt something too. I looked at his face to see if there was any indication of what he was feeling. His smile was a lot wider, I think.

_Oh, my, God. Why is it so damn hard to read facial expressions?_

Our moment was interrupted by a group of boys walking out of the building. "Hey Brendanawicz, you coming to the Upsilon party later?" The boy paused and looked at me and smiled mischievously. "Bring your girlfriend with you." He nudged Mark on the back.

"I'm not his... He's not my..." I can't seem to say the words boyfriend, girlfriend. Mark just laughed and doesn't correct his friend.

What does that mean? Crap on a spatula!

They can probably see my crimson face and they'll laugh about it later. He turned back to me to apologize, "Sorry about that. My friends think every girl I talk to is my girlfriend."

Erm, he talked to other girls? Of course, he does, Leslie. Don't be so naive. You're not even dating him.

"Right. Yeah." I gave him a nervous laugh.

"You should go to the party tonight, I mean, if you're free."

"Yeah, sure. I've got nothing to do tonight."

"All right, I'll text you the address. See you there."

He'll text me the address? We won't even go together? Ughhh... I must be reading this wrong.

"See you there, Mark." I gave him an awkward wide smile before I turned my back on him.

I had to drop off some books back at the Library so I was headed to that direction. I wondered if he was still looking at me but I fought the urge to turn around and check.

OK, I couldn't help it, I turned to peek and saw that he was still watching me and then he gave me a little wave. Aaaah! My heart was beating so fast, I thought it would jump out of my chest. I waved back and maybe my steps were a lot lighter now as I floated towards the direction of the library.

********************************

One thing I realized that was drastically different between college and high school was the amount of walking that I had to do in college. I always thought that walking was jogging's lesser-evil twin. Unavoidable but still a pain in the ass.

I could see the library building from afar. Lately, I was really starting to hate the library. Every time I had to go to library, it was to add more books to my growing list of things to read. It's really stressing me out just thinking about it and the people that worked in the library were not nice at all. It's like I'm an unwanted visitor in their quiet sanctuary. They are the worst. But I had no choice and I kept going back there anyway. And the school library just had to be built on top of a damn hill. So it wasn't just normal walking, now it was walking with a 20 degree incline. I'm no mathematician but I can tell you that was probably double the effort of --

"Leslie."

My train of thought was interrupted and I froze when I heard Ben's voice. Hearing his voice gave me a little bit of a rush. I didn't completely understand why, but it made me nervous. I slowly turned around to face him. Trying to keep calm and to act normal.

"Wyatt." I hug my books tightly across my chest. It's been a while since I stood this close to him. I didn't want to look at his eyes so I stared at a spot at the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, so, uh, are you busy tonight?"

"Maybe. Why?" I decided to meet his eyes and gave him a suspicious look. I was holding my breath hoping he wasn't going to ask me out because I honestly did not know how to answer that. And I know, I was probably making a huge assumption that he even wanted to ask me out in the first place.

"There's this frat party at my apartment tonight. And I wanted to invite you."

"Is it the Upsilon party?"

"Yeah, yeah. How'd you know?"

"Mark already invited me." I watched Ben's soft face change into a hard demeanor. The mere mention of Mark's name transformed his mood in a snap.

"Oh." His breathing grew heavy, like he wanted to say more. But his lips were tightly pressed together.

"Yeah, um, I'm his date." I don't know why I said that. But I just blurted it out. And now, Ben was shifting in his feet as he stood in front of me. He looked like he wanted to run away from this conversation. He seemed a little angry or maybe annoyed and I was dying of curiosity. I completely believed Mark's story and all, but at the same time I wanted the 411 on why Ben did what he did. And why was he still angry every time he saw Mark or whenever Mark's name popped up?

"Right. Well, I guess I'll see you there then." He turned around so abruptly that I felt a swoosh of air hit my face. And just like that, I'm left standing there staring at his back as he walked away.

_Out of sight, out of mind._

I kept repeating that line like I wished it were really true.

********************************

I was going to the party with April. Ann and Chris had other plans but she didn't tell me much on the phone. Mark hadn't texted me the address yet, but when I saw April in the room, she invited me to the same party too. Apparently, this was a really cool event and everyone was going.

April was helping me pick out what to wear. After she tossed half my clothes into the floor with snarky comments like, "Is this your mom's?" and "Is this what you're wearing to your funeral?", I finally put my foot down when I decided I'd just wear my grey hoodie and jeans. She snorted at that but left me alone to change.

The apartment wasn't too far from the campus, but I didn't feel like walking in the cold weather. We took a cab and after a few minutes, the car parked outside a two-story apartment duplex. And as I suspected it wasn't like any average student-affordable apartment. It was definitely an expensive looking apartment that looked more like an exclusive small condominium. I could hear the loud music blaring and kids were pouring into the entrance.

"Ben rented the whole building. So, all of four units are his. Andy stays in one of the units." April informed me when she saw me staring at it.

I nodded, as if accepting this information as something normal and not something I couldn't imagine anyone I know ever doing. "How does Andy know Ben?"

"They've known each other since high school so when Andy got the football scholarship, Ben sort of took him in. So, the third unit is where Chris stays sometimes and they turned one of the units into a hang-out place. Here, come on, let's get some alcohol in you!" April took my hand and half dragged me into the building. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had no plans to drink tonight. This party might get raided by the police and I didn't want to be caught drunk. It might go on my permanent record and just thinking about that was giving me a panic attack.

The hallway was littered with people holding red cups and talking to each other. I could see kids coming in and out of one the units with the open door and the source of loud music. Some of the people I saw were from my classes and greeted me.

April pointed to the room across the hallway, "That's Andy's room. And it's where I usually hang out when I'm not in our room."

"Well, I hope you guys are being careful. I have a lot of brochures about protection." I felt like it was my duty to inform April.

April rolled her eyes at me. "OK, mom. Whatever."

We squeezed through the people to get to where the party was at. I saw Andy on stage rocking out with his band. April waved and he smiled and pointed at her, announcing in the mic that his beautiful girlfriend had arrived. One second April was at my side and the next second she's made her way to the front of the stage and staring really hard at Andy.

I looked around the room wondering what I should do now. I didn't really party in high school so I was out of my elements here. I saw Ben and Shauna talking with a group of people and I wasn't really in the mood to talk to them so I walked the other direction of the room, hoping they hadn't seen me yet. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a handful of chips and went back out to try to find some people I knew from class. I was wondering where Mark was or when he'd arrive at the party. I never did get any text from him. I made it a few steps out of the kitchen before I bumped into Shauna and Ben. This time he saw me and I couldn't sneak away without being obvious.

"Hey, I'm glad you made it." Ben gave me a devastatingly handsome lopsided smile.

OK, I have no idea why that description popped in my head. It was devastating probably because I didn't want to admit how attractive he was.

"Yup. You have a nice apartment."

"Thanks."

"Where's your date, Leslie?" Shauna asked. Letting me know that Ben told her or someone told her that I was supposed to be there with a date.

"Not here yet." I tried to sound cool about it. And hopefully I didn't sound like I had no idea where he was and that he might have actually stood me up.

"Do you want something to drink?" Ben asked.

"No, I don't drink on a school night." Also I'm under-aged, but I didn't say that out loud. I was hoping that school night sounded like a cooler excuse than saying I was too young to drink. Because clearly there were a lot of under-aged people in the room comfortable enough to drink alcohol.

"Oh, well we have other non-alcoholic drinks." Ben offered politely.

"Yeah, like skim milk." I definitely heard sarcasm in Shauna's voice there.

"I only drink beef milk. You know, it's like almond milk squeezed through tiny holes in living cows." I joked, enjoying the look of confusion on her face and the laugh that I elicited from Ben with my absurd explanation.

"Leslieeeeeeee!" I jumped in surprise. Mark startled me as he put his arm around my shoulder and leaned his whole weight on my side. He's holding an almost empty red cup and a full one that sloshed a bit on my shoulder.

"Mark. Hi!" I'm a little flustered that he had his arm on my shoulder like we were some kind of an item that no one informed me about.

"Here, I got you your drink." His words are slurred and he is offering the full cup to me.

"No, thank you. I'm good." I tried to push the cup away which he was trying to shove at my face.

"Come on, Knope, loosen up a bit." He nudges me and I almost lose my balance as he was still leaning heavily on me.

"She said she doesn't want it." Ben's sharp voice rings out.

Mark looked up and noticed Ben and Shauna for the first time. "Oh hey, it's Ice Town." He laughed and pointed at Ben.

Ben's face was a brick, you could tell he was holding a lot of emotion in. "Don't call me that." He says in a low menacing voice.

"Why? It's your nickname right?" It was obvious Mark was taunting Ben. "How's your sister? Uh, Stephanie?"

"Don't you fucking dare talk about my sister." Ben's face turned red and he took a step forward. And I could see him clenching his fist.

This was seconds away from becoming a disaster. And I did not want to be in the middle of all this or have any part in it. I took the cup from Mark and quickly downed the drink. It burned a hole on my throat, I swear it took all my willpower not to throw it back up. But I needed it to be empty fast.

"Look, Mark, I need a refill. Let's go grab some."

As much as I wanted to know what really happened between Mark, Ben and his sister, this was not the way I would get any information. I had a feeling that would have ended into a fist fight if I didn't steer them away from each other.

We get into the kitchen and Mark is refilling both our cups.

"You got here earlier?" I asked him wondering why he forgot to tell me the address or what time he was going.

"Yeah, I got dragged here earlier by some friends. I'm sorry I forgot to text you." He handed me my cup again and this time I just hold it since there was no need to drink it. Plus, I was already feeling light headed from what I had just drank.

Mark stepped closer to me, pinning me to the counter. "You look really hot, Leslie."

OK, I don't know if I was supposed to feel flattered or if I was supposed to swoon. But that was not what I was feeling right now. "Um, thanks." I tried to play it cool, looking at my drink and swirling it a bit in my hand.

"You're smart and funny. And I think you like me." He smiled coyly at me and takes a huge gulp of his drink.

I thought I liked him. But the way he was taunting Ben earlier and him drunkenly hitting on me was slowly becoming a turn off.

Mark leaned forward and I knew he was going to kiss me. But I didn't hear any romantic music in my mind which I often imagined I would hear when a boy I liked would kiss me for the first time. His wet lips landed on my cheek as I reacted quickly and turned my face in time.

"Right. Ok. I get it." He said, sounding disappointed. "Sorry, I misread the situation."

"You're drunk." It was the only thing I could think of to say.

"Yup. I am. I'll leave you in peace and I'll go hang out with my friends." He looked at me once again asking without words if I really didn't feel like making out with him.

I didn't. So I shook my head.

Mark backed out of the kitchen looking drunkenly sheepish. And I breathed a sigh of relief. That could have gone wrong in a million ways but I was thankful that Mark was not a drunk dickhead. Maybe tomorrow when he sobers up and actually asks me on a real date, I might feel a little better about him.

I needed some fresh air. My head was just a mass of confusing thoughts right now. I was glad there was a door from the kitchen leading outside so at least I didn't have to bump into anyone else in the party. I left my cup at the sink and headed out.

There was a narrow back porch and I sat down on a plant box while I stared at the black sky. I wish Mark hadn't been so drunk, I might have actually made out with him if he didn't look so gross and wasted. And why did it seem like he wanted to make Ben angry? My brain was fuzzy with all the curiosity and theories that I was playing around in my head.

I was getting cold and I didn't want to go back inside so I decided to call it a night and to walk back to my dorm. April would be alright with Andy, she probably didn't have any plans of coming back to the dorm tonight anyway.

"Leslie?"

It was Ben's voice. Ben found me again. If I was a paranoid person I would think he was stalking me and following me around.

_Oh, my God, what if he wants to kidnap me? Wait, what? That's ridiculous of course he doesn't want to kidnap me._

I stood up quickly and the sudden movement made me lose my balance. Ben reached out and held me steady. His hands gripping both sides of my waist tightly.

HIS HANDS ARE ON MY WAIST! Why is he holding me? On my waist! Ok, brain. Shut up for a minute.

I was trying to process what was happening. The alcohol was doing numbers on my body. I was dizzy as fuck. Drinking that whole cup in one go was starting to affect me. It was either that or Ben's hands on me was causing my heart to beat erratically. I chose the former reason. Because "drunk" me was easier to deal with than the "having feelings for a guy that I didn't like" me.

I pushed myself out of his grasp and tried to look like I wouldn't fall on the ground. That meant standing really still with my arms extended in front of me until the world stopped spinning. "I'm OK." I said with what I thought was a steady voice. My eyes focusing on the plants behind him. "I'm headed back to the dorm. So, um. Good night."

I started walking towards the direction I hoped was the correct way back to the dorm. I turned to look if Ben was still around. I couldn't find him and assumed he went back inside. I kept walking and tried to ignore the freezing cold. I heard rapid footsteps behind me and turned around to see Ben running to catch up. He held a long trench coat in his hand.

"Here, put this on." He put the jacket on me. The warm coat felt good.

"Thank you. I'll be on my way now. You can head back to your party. I'll return your jacket tomorrow." I kept walking and I noticed that he's walking beside me. Well, I guess he was going to walk me all the way to my dorm then.

We walked for a few minutes and I couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Ice Town?"

He sighed before telling me why he got that nickname. "During my term as mayor. I wanted to build a big winter sports complex and managed to spend all the town budget on it."

"Ouch. That's why you were impeached?"

"Yup."

"Well, let me tell you something. If you had me helping you with your Ice Town project, it would not have gone poorly."

"I truly believe that." He said, looking thoughtfully at me. I meant it as a joke but he seemed to have taken me seriously.

We walked in silence again.

He cleared his throat and then asked, "How's your Philo class?"

"I'm managing. I got a perfect score on a pop quiz so that should even me out for now, as long as I don't get a zero on my project and on the finals, I think I'll be fine."

"That's awesome. I've still got some of my notes from that class if you want to, uh, if you want go over them with me."

"Oh, yeah sure. That would help me a lot."

"Cool. Cool." He looked like he was hesitating to say the next words. "We could discuss it over lunch, maybe."

Crap, was he asking me out? Was I still too drunk and I was just putting more meaning to this? I didn't feel too drunk anymore. So, does it mean what I think it means?

"I mean you don't have to answer now. You could think about it." He quickly added to fill the silence.

The dorm was starting to come to view. And soon this weird but surprisingly pleasant walk was about to end.

"I'll think about it." I said softly. Honestly, it's probably all I would end up thinking about for the rest of the week.

We were quiet again until he suddenly asked, "Are you dating Mark?"

Oh boy. Here it comes. "I don't know yet." I answered with a shrug.

"You shouldn't."

"Why?"

"He's not who you think he is."

"Well, that's an unfair remark. You don't completely know what I think of him. And you aren't exactly the best person to judge him."

"Look, I know him. I know what he's really like."

"You give me this vague reason why I should stay away from Mark. And yet you expect me to just do what you say because you said so."

"I'm just telling you to be careful."

We reached my dorm and we stopped at the entrance.

"I can take care of myself." I took off his coat and offered it back to him. He reached for it and his fingers touched mine.

_Oh, my God. There was definitely sparks. Maybe even fireworks. Shit. Shit. Shit._

Everything was in slow motion and it felt like I was outside of my body watching the scene unfold. Ben pulled me towards him. I saw him lean closer to my face and it looked like he was about to kiss me. And I swear I could hear The Sims romantic music playing in the background. He stopped inches in front of my face and said, "Uh, your phone is ringing."

"What?"

He pointed to my pocket and I crashed back to reality. My phone was ringing. That was the music I thought I heard in my mind. It was the ringtone I set for Ann. I felt a little embarrassed. Was he really about to kiss me before we got interrupted or was that just my imagination though?

I answered the phone and immediately forgot all that was happening when I heard Ann crying on the other line. "Leslie, where are you? I'm in your room... I need you." She said in between sobs. A million questions ran through my mind.

"I'm just outside the dorm. I'm coming. Stay right there." I said in a panic. I looked at Ben who had a worried expression on his face. "Sorry, Ann needs me." And then it was my turn to leave him standing there, staring at my back as I ran as fast as I could to my room. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I'm sooooooory... Wrote quickly and hardly edited this so prepare for a lot of eye sore... (I''ll come back and edit this once I have more time) I hope you stick around after this haha Part 8 is gonna be a climax and I'm excited to start working on that!

_I always went by a code. Hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses. Ovaries before brovaries._

And that meant leaving whatever was happening with me and Ben behind to make sure Ann was okay. I raced up to my room and found her curled up in a fetal position on my bed, sobbing. It broke my heart to see my best friend so vulnerable. Her body was shaking in time with her gut-wrenching sobs.

I immediately got on the bed next to her and took her in my arms, she cried louder into my shoulder. I tried to calm her down as best as I could so I could at least get a little background on why she was crying. I did manage to get the sentence "Chris and I broke up." in between her sobbing.

I'm going to kill Chris. I'm going to kill him dead. And then I'm going to kill him some more.

Why the fuck did Chris break up with her? This was going to take some time before Ann could talk to me properly so I slowly took out my phone from my pocket. I didn't want Ann to think she didn't have my full attention, but I needed to know more about what had just happened to Ann and Chris.

I navigated to the message app on my phone with one hand and clicked on Jerk Face on my contacts. I hadn't had time to change that yet. And sometimes, the name still applied so I never felt like changing it.

'Did you know that Chris broke up with Ann?' I waited for him to read my message. And then I saw the typing icon.

'No, I was not aware of this.'

'Well he did and now she's a mess and I can't get the details on why they broke up!'

'I'll call him right now.'

I put the phone down and waited to get some answers. Ann was still sobbing and I knew no amount of calming her down would make her stop. She just needed to cry until she ran out of tears and then we could start talking about it.

A million theories were floating in my head. Was it a third party? Did Chris do something bad? Was he dying? Was he gay? My money was on the second theory. The breakup was so abrupt there must have been something that drastically happened. I tried to stifle a yawn. So many things had happened today and now my energy was just drained at this point.

I noticed that Ann's sobbing had turned into soft irregular breaths as she had fallen asleep. I closed my eyes too and let myself drift to slumber with her. I'll have to try to figure out what happened tomorrow.

*************************************

I woke up at dawn. There was a pain in my neck as I realized that I had not moved a muscle in the whole duration of my sleep. Ann had her back towards me and still snoring lightly. I tried to move my head a little to stretch the muscles. I moved as slow as I could as I tried to get out of bed.

I decided to get coffee and food before Ann woke up. I headed to the only 24/7 café in the university, which was about a 15-minute walk away from the dorm. I grabbed a cap on my way out stuffed my tangled curls inside it as I put it on my head.

Walking around campus at dawn was beautiful and peaceful. There was a little fog that mystified the surroundings and going through Freedom park and smelling the morning dew was refreshing. At this time only the joggers and morning walkers were awake.

The bell on top of the café entrance rang as I entered. I gave my order to the girl behind the counter and rummaged through my purse for my money. I had a habit of stuffing bills inside my bag even though I had a perfectly good wallet. I noticed my phone and checked if Ben had left any messages. There was none. How has he not texted me back yet?

"Leslie!" I turned my head towards the voice I knew too well and saw Ben waving at me. Speaking of the devil. I waved back and handed my payment to the girl before I headed over to his booth.

"Hey, I was waiting for your message. Did you find out anything?"

"No, I tried calling Chris but I couldn't reach him. I remember he has a fishing trip with his dad this weekend and he's usually unreachable during those times."

"Ugh, this is driving me crazy. Do you have any idea why'd they break up?"

"No." Ben looked down at his cup. He looked like he had a lot on his mind that he wanted to say.

But we sat in silence and the events that conspired last night started to creep into my head. Ben had tried to kiss me. That meant he wanted to be more than friends. But we were really worlds apart and I don't think we'd ever find a way to work things out. I stared freely at him, ready to avert my eyes in case he looked up. I can see why a lot of girls wanted to hang out with him. He wasn't bad looking. Ok, he was cute. I'll admit that. But again, our personalities clashed. I will always be annoyed every time his pride starts showing. But I needed to know what was happening so I didn't drive myself crazy by making up theories.

"So, um, about last night." I started the dialogue hoping he'd provide more information.

"Oh, yeah, um, I'm really sorry about that." Ben said without looking up from his coffee cup. I narrowed my eyes at his answer. Why was he sorry? Was he starting to regret making a move on me?

But before I could ask, my number was called and I had to go pick up my take out. Ben looked up when he realized that was my order and we stared at each other for at least three heartbeats before I broke eye contact. Normally, I would never be the first to look away, but there was something different now. And with every second that I looked into his eyes, my heart pumped harder. And it scared the living shit out of me.

"I'm just. I'm going to get my take out now. Um, I'll see you around." I left the booth with clumsy haste and high tailed out of there once I got my order. I was proud of myself for not looking back at Ben's booth and started back to my dorm.

*************************************

I came back to Ann sitting on the bed hugging a pillow. She wasn't crying anymore, thank God. But she looked cathartic. This wasn't usual though with past breakups. Ann was usually at an angry phase on Day 2.

"Is Ann broken?" April's voice startled me. I hadn't noticed that April was on her bed staring at Ann. "She's been like that for 30 minutes."

I placed the waffles on the table and sat next to Ann. I cup her pretty face in my hands and tried to catch her attention. "Ann." There was no reaction. I called her name a couple more times but she wasn't budging. "Don't make me slap you." Still no reaction.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw April move, but I wasn't prepared for the splash of cold water that she dumped on Ann that dribbled a little on me. I didn't have enough time to be angry though, because Ann let out a loud gasp and it seemed to have snapped her out of her comatose.

"What the fuck!" Ann looked livid as she gave April the evil eye.

"You're welcome." April shrugged and lazily walked back to her bed.

I grabbed a towel from the rack and tossed it to Ann. "Are you ready to tell us what happened?"

"Chris fucking broke up with me, that's what happened." Ann was now in her angry phase. But based from experience, she usually jumped between crying and angry phase for a couple of days. "We were supposed to go to Ben's party but then he said he wanted to talk to me in private so we went to a restaurant instead."

I split the waffles for 3 people and handed Ann her share while April grabbed hers. Ann took a few bites and continued with her story.

"Then he starts talking seriously and tells me that we can't see each other anymore." She stabbed her waffle as she said this. I wanted to grab the fork from her because she was murdering the waffle and it was making me feel protective of it. "And I thought he was joking or pulling a prank so I laughed at him. I fucking laughed so hard because I thought it was funny!"

Ann suddenly looked like she was about to start crying again. "Then I realized he wasn't laughing and it hit me that he wasn't joking. And I asked him why and he said it wasn't me and that it was him." Ann looked up at me and I could see the fire in her eyes again. "He used a cliché on me, Leslie!"

"So, he didn't say why at all?"

"No, the bastard broke up with me and didn't even explain why!"

I let Ann rant some more about what an asshole Chris was. Eventually, she needed to go to class soon so she went back to her dorm to shower and change. We planned to meet up later for dinner.

*************************************

I was hanging out in the park after class, my back leaning on a gigantic tree. I had my nose buried in a book. I was really engrossed in a short story which described a town hall meeting where the citizens where running a lottery and the winner ended up getting stoned to death. It was brutal but it was funny to even think that a town hall meeting would ever be that dark. I always imagined town hall meetings to be fun and productive.

I heard someone clear their throat and I looked up to see Ben, with his hands behind his back, leaning down on me.

"Hey." I said putting the book on top of my lap. He sat next to me and took the book, his hand grazing my knees. Maybe I froze a bit from his touch.

He read the back of the book and nodded his head, "Interesting."

"So, have you heard from Chris yet?"

"Not yet. I think he'll be back tomorrow. How is Ann doing?"

"She's feeling better. But she needs closure and your stupid friend couldn't even give her that."

Ben raised his hands in a surrender position, "I'm here to help. Once he's back I'll talk to him."

A group of girls walked by and noticed Ben. They stopped in front of us and they started flirting with him. It was disgusting to watch, really. Ben kind of looked embarrassed by it and just gave them a goofy smile all throughout.

"Wow. You're popular." I said sarcastically as I watched the girls walk away.

Ben shook his head. "I wish I wasn't..."

"That was kind of painful to watch. I didn't think asking about when the next frat party was that exciting!" I faked a cheerleader intonation while I said the last word.

Ben laughed. "You sound just like them."

"So, exactly what type of girl would peak your interest?" It was a weird question, but I was interested to know. He had all kinds of girls throwing themselves at him and none of which seemed to interest him. He'll probably end up describing Shauna to the T.

"She would have to be well-read." Ben returned the book to me as he said this. "She'd have to be into business and politics."

"So, like Professor Beavers?" I joked, Professor Beavers was the University's old Dean of Social Sciences Department. Ben laughed heartily. Which I'd never seen him do too much of. And he really did have a beautiful smile.

"Yes, exactly. It's too bad she's still married."

There's another stretch of silence as we watched the people hanging out in the park. I was starting to feel self-conscious of how close he was sitting next to me. And that a few times his knee would touch mine while he played with the grass between our legs.

I felt my phone vibrate and I stretched as I tried to fish it out of my tight jeans. I sort of had to lean my shoulder on his chest while I did that. And I tried not to make a big deal out of it, but I did notice that he didn't move away. I looked at the notification and saw April's message. 'SOS, need to talk to you. I'm at dorm.' I sit up really quick. What now? Did I have to go hunt down Andy too?

"I have to go. April needs me." Ben nodded, he got up and offered his hand to me. I took it and felt his strong grip as he helped me stand.

"I hope things are okay. I'll see you around." He gave me an awkward wave and I headed back to the dorm.

I seemed to be spending too much time with Ben and he seemed to be just around where ever I went. He was either stalking me or the universe was playing some kind of trick on me. Whatever it was, we were getting too close. And I needed to distance myself from him. I really did not need this kind of complication on my college life.

I got to the dorm room and I saw April pacing back and forth.

"I have a confession to make." April looked like she was about to vomit.

"What happened?"

"I think I know why Chris broke up with Ann."

I hold April steady, her pacing was making me dizzy. "Tell me everything."

"You know how I've been hanging out in Andy's apartment? I think I overheard Ben and Chris arguing about Ann. They were yelling about Ann not being good enough, but I didn't really catch all the words or exactly who was saying what."

Mother ducker! I was just talking to the two-faced jerk face and he didn't even care to mention this? "When was this?"

"I think it was a few days ago."

"Oh my, God! That son of a-- of a--! Ugh!" I was really angry right now that I almost said the number one curse word that I hated to say. I knew Ben had something to do with this. He always hated that Ann was dating Chris.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier. I didn't want to say anything in front of Ann. I mean, I like seeing her sad, but I wasn't really sure what Ben and Chris were talking about completely."

"It's okay, you did good." I sat down on the edge of the bed because this information was making me faint. I wanted to go find Ben and strangle him. But I needed more proof before I confronted him. "We can't tell Ann just yet." April nodded.

I may not have all the proof yet, but I knew in my heart that Ben had something to do with the breakup. This was exactly the same thing he did with Mark and Stephanie. Ann and Mark were not good enough for his standards and he made sure they were cut out from his circle.

Half of my anger was also because I felt betrayed. I was actually starting to like him and then he goes and does something stupid again. I was feeling a lot of anger and I knew my face was all scrunched up the way it gets when I was enraged. All I could picture right now was choking him until he passed out.

_Ben Wyatt was a dead man._


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I feel like this should have been broken down into 3 chapters to add more details... Anyway, I tried with this... Someday when I'm not too busy, maybe I'll edit and add more content. But right now, this is what I can offer you guys. I still hope you enjoy it and continue reading.

_I am a firm believer of facing my issues head on. No problem too small._

However, as with all matters involving Ben, it seemed that I was at a lost on what I needed to do. I wanted to confront him the minute that April told me what she overheard, but I kept chickening out. Instead, I have gone into hiding. Going through extreme measures to avoid him. And usually I was good at escaping without Ben knowing except for that one time when he clearly saw me and yelled my name while I pretended that I hadn't heard and kept walking. Also, once I thought he was coming towards me, so I jumped behind a tree and lost my footing. I still have the scrapes and bruises from that. Turned out to be a complete stranger though.

I have had some thoughts as to why I was doing this. First, April's story was not definitive proof for me to chop his head off. Second, I honestly did not want to know the truth, because the truth might mean he really did have something to do with this and I would never be able to forgive him for that. Having anything to do with something that hurt my best friend is top one of my unforgivable acts. So, I resorted to jumping behind trees and keeping an eye out for a dark-haired boy with a distinct scowl on his face.

Ann was doing a lot better after a few days of her going through her breakup phases. She gave herself green highlights this time. And in my opinion added edge to her fresh ethnic beauty. She's like a mint flavored cumulous cloud. She's been hanging out a lot in our room and slept over most of the time. Surprisingly, Ann has formed a weird bond with April. Ann would say something sweet and April would reply with biting sarcasm. Hopefully, April's just joking but sometimes I wonder…

Today we were all just doing our own thing. Ann was on the bed, lying on her stomach, doing her paper. Me on my desk, trying to organize my notes. And April was in front of the mirror, applying black makeup. Andy was on his way to pick her up for their date.

Speaking of dates. I have had none. Nada. Zero. Mark was not making any moves. I think that incident in Ben's party threw him off. We've just been civil and it's like the flirting has stopped. But I still have a chance since we have a scheduled study "date" coming up soon. We have a major test for Philo next week so I'm helping him study. And I'm hoping that something sparks up again. Finger's crossed.

"Knock, knock." Andy announced as he entered our unlocked room. April spun around and accepted Andy's enthusiastic kiss while he wrapped his burly arms around her in a tight bear hug.

"Hey, Andy." I was glad to see April find someone who really cared for her. I thought she'd become one of those loner students who never talked to anyone, but now that she has Andy, she hangs out with some of his friends sometimes, so that gave me hope.

"Hiya, Leslie!" Andy cheerfully greeted me. He noticed Ann on the bed and suddenly turned serious. "Hey, Ann. Um, I'm really sorry to hear about your breakup with Chris."

I looked at Andy sharply. He must have heard something; he lives in the same freaking apartment. "Andy, I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to answer truthfully." Andy's eyes widened and I continued, “Have Ben and Chris ever talked about Chris' relationship with Ann? What did they say to each other? And when did it happen?"

"I, uh… I don't think I should talk about this." Andy glanced at April for help. April crossed her arms in front of her chest and took an offensive stance.

"Tell us what you know, babe."

"I'm sorry, babe. I really shouldn't say anything. Ben and Chris are my best friends."

"And Leslie and Ann are mine!" April punched Andy on the shoulder, and he flinched. "Tell us."

"Fine. But if they find out and ask who told you guys, tell them it wasn't me. That way they won't suspect it was me and they'll think it was one of them."

"Fine. Just spill it!"

"Ok, ok. So, uh, during Ben's birthday party when you guys left, Chris's dad talked to us and stuff. He was really grilling Chris about Ann. And Ben was like, 'Yeah, Ann's really not good for Chris.' And Chris was like all serious and not smiling but he looked thoughtful like he was thinking about stuff. And then Chris's dad was like, 'You are not to see that girl again. Do you understand me?' And then Chris was like, 'Yes, sir. Loud and clear.' And I was like, 'can you pass me the butter’, because I was eating this delicious piece of bread but it needed more butter."

"Focus, Andy!"

"Oh, yeah. Ok, then I think a few days before the frat party at our apartment, Chris's dad came to visit. And he asked Ben if Chris was still seeing Ann and Ben confirmed it. So, Chris's dad got really mad and told Chris that if he doesn't break up with Ann, he'll transfer him to another school. So, Chris was super angry, and he looked like he was gonna yell at his dad, but Ben told Chris that he should listen to his dad. And that's all I know. I swear." Andy raised his hand as a form of surrender.

I looked at April and Ann who both had their mouths open in disbelief. And I realized both my hands were clenched. This was the proof I did not want to hear. Ben lied to me. He lied to my face. He knew why Chris broke up with Ann and he didn't say anything. He pretended that he was going to help me find out but in reality, he already knew, and he chose not to tell me. I felt weirdly hurt about this, my stomach was heavy and felt like I swallowed a pound of stones.

"Leslie are you ok?"

Ann's voice brought me back to the present. I hadn't even noticed that Andy and April had left. Ann looked worried and she was shaking my shoulders trying to get my attention.

"I-- I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. Is this about Ben? I know you were kind of starting to like him, but you never wanted to talk about it with me."

"What? No. I don't like him."

Ann paused, things clicking into place in her mind. "You knew how he felt about me dating Chris, so you tried not to like him for my sake."

Shit, why does my BFF have to be so astute? "Well now I hate him. I can't believe they think so highly of themselves. Like we're nobody. Like, like-- ugh!" Whenever I get angry, I always burst into tears. And I was summoning all my will power not to do so right now. I didn't want to let Ann know how much this was affecting me.

"It's ok, Leslie. I've moved on. Chris and Ben can share a pit in hell for all I care. They don't deserve us."

"You know what, you're totally right." I said, forcing a fake smile.

"Of course, I'm right. Now, let me go and submit this paper to my professor and I'll come back as soon as class is over."

I watched Ann close the door behind her and immediately the tears started flowing as I slumped into bed. Ann had had days to get past her heartbreak with Chris. And now that she knew why he broke up with her, she finally gets closure and she can completely move on. I on the other hand have just had a rug pulled out from under my feet. All the feelings that I repressed were now cascading over me like a waterfall.

I was starting to like Ben, ok, I liked Ben. I never admitted it openly, but I really liked the attention he was giving me. And that I always felt my heart skip every time I saw him. And the tingly feeling I get when his skin touches mine. But now all the memories of our hanging out together were tarnished by this painful realization that he'll always be an arrogant pompous rich frat boy.

I think I was angrier at myself for falling for him when I knew we weren't right for each other. For letting myself think that we could be friends or more than friends. I was angry that I was letting his opinion of me affect my self-esteem. Who the hell did he think he was to make me feel so lousy? I let my anger and disappointment surround me, my pillow damp from my tears.

******************************

I had fallen asleep. The sound of my phone beeping woke me up from my nap. I groggily grabbed it from my desk and rubbed my eyes so I could read the messages clearly. One message from Ann was to inform me that she wouldn't be sleeping in the dorm tonight because something came up that she needed to talk to her apartment land lord.

And my eyes popped open when I saw the next message was from Ben. He wanted to talk to me and asked to meet at Freedom Park at 9pm. I checked the time, it was 8:30 pm. I stared at the message wondering if I should go at all. I was still infuriated, and I just wanted to get him out of my life like how I originally planned, the first time I met him.

But this would also give me the opportunity to tell him what an ass he was. And that he can take his money and shove it up where the sun doesn't shine. That was motivation enough for me. I changed and fixed my face before I headed to Freedom Park.

I spotted Ben sitting in one of the picnic tables and walked towards him. My heart beating rapidly that I thought it would jump out of my chest. He noticed me and stood up, he looked nervous.

Ben took a deep breath when I stopped in front of him. "I've got something to say to you." He said with loud awkward force that surprised even himself. He cleared his throat.

Oh, my God what is happening right now? He looked so serious and it was kind of scaring me, like he was about to announce that I was dying. I almost forget how angry I was with him. "Okay."

"I need you not to interrupt me while I get all of this out of my mind."

"Oka--" I stopped when he raised his eyebrow at me.

Ben exhaled and used his shaky hands a lot while he gave his speech, "Ever since I've met you. I-- I can't get you out of mind. Believe me I've tried. And even though your status in life is in the opposite spectrum of mine, I really like being with you. Talking to you about stuff. Making you smile and laugh. Feeding you waffles. And I can't contain it any longer. I think I'm deeply, ridiculously in love with you and above everything else, I just-- will you-- will you go out with me?"

Wait, what just happened? What. The. Flying. Fuck. Just. Happened? I could feel my face had gotten hot and it's probably a dark shade of crimson. Did Ben just announce that he loved me and asked me out on a date? Because I think I misunderstood everything that was just said. Ben who betrayed me and got me so angry that I cried for almost an hour, just said he loved me. And yet he managed to insult my status in life somewhere in his speech. And right now, he's staring at me waiting for a positive reply. I wanted to vomit.

It’s confirmed, the universe hates me. Here we were standing underneath the moonlight in a beautiful park and I was going to tell him that nothing was ever going to happen between us. I didn't even know where to begin.

"No, I will not go out with you." It was all I could manage now and I could hear the bitterness in my voice.

Ben looked confused when he heard my answer. And his confusion turned into annoyance when he realized that he'd just been rejected. I watched as Ben composed himself and in a calm controlled voice, he asked, "Do I at least get an explanation?"

His calmness made me furious, it was just like him to be so self-centered, acting like my rejection was nothing but an inconvenience. Of course, Ben wasn't expecting to get rejected. He probably thought I would be so happy that a rich kid just asked me out.

"An explanation? You really don't know why? First, you insult me and always find some way to rub it in my face that I'm dirt poor. Oh wow, you like me despite the fact that I'm beneath you. Someone should give you an award for such a self-less act! And second, you ruined the happiness of my best friend, whom I love with all my heart!"

Ben's eyes widened and he looked taken aback, so I continued with my tirade, "That's right. I know what you did! You lied to my face. I asked you why Chris would break up with her and you looked me in the eyes, and you told me that you didn't know anything. And I believed you. Go ahead and deny this since you're really good at lying."

"I didn't tell you because I was waiting for Chris to come back so I could talk to him first. Telling you anything would not have been helpful, and I knew you would hate me since I did play a part in their breakup."

His excuse was too late. The damage had been done. He lied and that was all that mattered. The hate just kept piling up and I remember the last thing that I wanted to throw at him, "Oh and one more thing. The way you treated Mark? That's like the worst thing ever. Yeah, that's right, he told me everything."

Ben's calm demeanor changed at the mention of Mark's name. "Mark is a fucking asshole. How do you not see that? Are you madly in love with him that you're blind to his true nature?"

"Mark is a sweet guy. He doesn't deserve the misfortune that you have inflicted on him! You did the same thing to him that you did with Chris and Ann. He loved your sister and because he's also not part of your fucking rich circle you broke them up. Then you sabotage him by not giving him credit on your paper and he failed the class because of it. It was all on you and you make it out as if Mark is the bad guy."

Ben was quiet for what seemed like minutes. His voice was heavy as he asked, "So, this is what you think of me then?"

Ben took a step closer to me and we were inches away from each other. His face full of anger. "You think the worst of me that you would not even ask my side before you pass judgement on my character. Yes, I keep bringing up that you aren't a match to my financial status because it's true and I grew up to this kind of mindset, did you really think I would not address the elephant in the room? My family expects so much from me that even thinking about having a relationship with you was giving me anxiety knowing that they'll all be against me from day one."

I can't believe he had the gall to say these things to me. I have never in my life felt this much anger than what I was feeling now, so I screamed back at him, "Did you really think I could ever have a relationship with you?" Ben looked mortified at my words. "The first time we met, you looked at me like I was some kind of garbage and you insulted me behind my back. Then your 'friend' Shauna called me a gold digger. And every time we hung out you always end up proving how inconsiderate you are to my feelings. And you know what? I would never go out with you even if you were the last man on earth, Ben Wyatt."

"You have said enough, Leslie. I get it. Loud and clear." I caught the remorse and shame in his voice. "I'm sorry that I have taken up your precious time." And just as he said that, the universe opened the floodgates and it started pouring rain on us.

It just had to start raining, this felt like the universe was giving me the finger right now. And we were both standing so close to each other that I could see the streaks of water dripping down Ben's face. I was waiting for him to leave, but my mind was focused on the fact that our faces were close enough to kiss and I noticed that he kept staring at my mouth. For a second, he looked like he was going to lean forward but instead he stepped back and hastily walked away from me.

And so now I'm standing in the rain alone, with my mind exploding as it went through what just happened. Ben said he loved me and then he insulted me. I was so angry that his words shook me to my core and made me feel something that I had never felt before. How and when did he even start liking me? And did he really think that I wouldn't find out what he did to Ann or Mark? And then we just ended up screaming at each other. Oh, my God, what the fuck just happened?

The violent shiver that ran through my body reminded me that I was still standing under the heavy rain. And I somehow talked my body into moving and headed back into my dorm room.

******************************

The next morning, I just felt even worse. Flashbacks of the scenes that occurred yesterday were the first thing that filled my mind. I still hadn't moved on. How could I when so much had transpired. I was still feeling a lot of anger. Ben was such an arrogant jerk face, just because other girls throw themselves at him that he would actually think I would be like them too. And his face during my rejection, like he couldn't believe someone would say no to him.

I checked my phone expecting no messages from Ben but was so surprised to see an email from him that I quickly shot up from my bed. I opened the email and started reading it:

_Dear Leslie,_

_Don't worry, I won't be repeating the things I said last night that you found so disgusting. I'm writing to provide you my side to the accusations that you presented to me. I realized that I couldn’t give you proper answers last night. I am much more articulate in writing than I am in verbal confrontations. Also, my emotions were heightened last night that I wasn't thinking clearly._

_For your first accusation, yes, initially I was not fond of Ann dating Chris because I know what Chris's family was expecting from him. I knew his dad would not approve. And when asked about Ann, I only answered truthfully as I saw it. Ann was distracting Chris from his studies. He is quite obsessed with her and I know it's because he loves her, but I was worried that Ann would end up hurting him and he would spiral away from his goals. That was my initial impression. And I may have mentioned this to his dad, but once I got to know her and you, I have since changed my mind. But it was too late, and I had planted the seed in his dad's mind. When his dad found out that they were still dating, he gave Chris an ultimatum and I advised Chris to listen to his dad. Because I didn't want him to move school. Moving schools would mean he'd have to start over, and he's worked really hard to get his grades and reputation in this university. I said what I said with the best intentions for my friend._

_Second and the hardest one for me to write because it involves my sister, but I will tell you anyway because what Mark has been telling you is a major injustice to her, and I need to defend her honor. You accused me of wrongful acts on Mark. I have told you multiple times that Mark is not who you think he is. I met him in class, and we became friends. And I introduced him to my sister, and she fell for his charms. They started dating and I was ok with that because I could see my sister was happy. But I accidentally overheard him bragging to his friends that he bagged a rich girl and when they get married, he'd never have to lift a finger his entire life. At first, I let it slide because I thought it was just a joke. But the more I observed him the more I was convinced that my gut feeling was true. He was just using my sister. And true enough, my sister caught him cheating on her with another girl. I was so furious that I really thought I was capable of hurting him. And that is the reason they broke up._

_And his claims of being cheated from a grade he deserved is ridiculous. When my sister broke up with him, he left me hanging and never once reached out to me or answered any of my messages about the paper we were working on. And so, I submitted the paper under my sole name._

_And that is the truth, whether you believe it or not. This will be the last time I will interact with you. I have heard what you said last night, and it is clear what you think of me. I wish you the best of luck in college and hope that you graduate with honors which is what a hard-working student like you truly deserves._

_Ben Wyatt_

I have re-read the letter five times. My heart was in shambles. His words surround me, and it sinks in that I may have judged him prematurely.

_Ben Wyatt wasn't a complete jerk like I thought he was._


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This is more of a character development chapter. I'm sorry that it's really long (and probably boring)... I don't normally write long chapters except with this story. I think I like babbling in Leslie's voice too much. I hope you enjoy this anyway. Thank you again for all the hits and kudos and comments, I really appreciate that you guys are sticking around for this.

_If I drown myself with enough studying, sometimes it distracts me from the events that conspired in the past weeks._

It helps me forget a certain dark-haired boy whose smile was as rare as seeing Pawnee on the list of top 100 best towns to visit in America. And when the memories come creeping up on me, I just recited the Preamble to the Constitution, and I imagine I'm reciting this in front of the senate, it gets me really into the scene and I forget the most embarrassing moment of my life.

But when the night hits and the lights are off and I can't use studying as an excuse and then I forget the words to the constitution, that's when the feelings just flow through me. His face pops up in my brain. And I start feeling like a stupid idiot that believed the worst of Ben. He may have been a jerk when I first met him, but when I looked back at some of the times that we talked to each other, he wasn't so bad. I just chose to ignore it because I was too caught up with my first impression of him.

Ugh, this is the reason why for the past few days, I have not been sleeping well. Usually around midnight, while I stared at my ceiling, my mind just kept replaying everything. I've practically memorized Ben's letter by now and his last paragraph never failed to shatter my heart into a million pieces over and over. And basically, whatever might have been the future of our relationship was very likely gone now.

He probably hates my guts. How could he not hate me? I yelled at him and told him what an awful human being he was.

But really, who was I kidding? It would have never worked out between us. He should just respect his family's wishes and I should just focus on school. I shouldn’t feel miserable. I should be happy that I dodged a bullet. But the question is, why didn’t I feel happy?

Okay, I really needed to focus right now though. I was standing with a crowd of volunteers waiting for our assignments. We were preparing for the annual University Fair to be held at Freedom Park next weekend. And as part of the scholarship program I was in, I had to do volunteer work for school events.

In front of us was the event manager holding the list of names and handing out assignments. He was an older looking boy, probably just got out of college. When he called my name and I raised my hand, he gave me a look that took more than a few seconds and then said that he was going to get back to me after he handed out everyone's tasks. I shrugged and wondered what that was about.

When everyone else dispersed to go find their booths, the boy approached me. I think his name was Henry. I really wasn't paying much attention earlier, which has been happening often lately since I can't seem to keep Ben's letter out of my mind.

“Leslie?” He asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yup. That’s me.”

“Alright, it's your lucky day! You are going to be working with me. And you’re going to help me manage this whole event.”

I was excited to hear this. My first big event in college that I would organize. Henry smiled at my excitement and for a second, he kind of reminded me of Ben. But I blamed that on my brain constantly thinking about Ben. I needed to concentrate though, this was a really important event for the university and it will have people outside of the school attending, so I took the clipboard from Henry and tried to make sense of it.

We worked for a few hours and there was some small talk between us. It was nice. He was nice. He asked me a lot about what books I've read. And he had read most of them too. Plus, I really admired how organized he was. Organizing this annual gathering was an immense deal to undertake. His management skills were noteworthy. I was kind of crushing hard on his take-charge personality. He seemed to have a lot of experience with this and I loved that I was learning new stuff from him.

I was thinking about introducing him to Ann. Maybe they would hit it off and then Ann can move on from Chris. She says she's over him, but I know my BFF. She really liked Chris and I can tell that their breakup crushed her. She's just putting on a brave face because she doesn't want me to worry. Henry seemed like someone Ann would love, he was charming and very self-assured.

I watched as Henry rummaged through his things, he groaned when looked like he remembered something, “Shoot, I need to grab some stuff from the apartment. You wanna come with me? We can talk about the tasks along the way.”

“Uh, sure.” We had a lot to do, but he was in charge, so I should follow him around for the day. We got into his car and I fastened my seat belt, hoping his apartment wasn’t that far.

“Do you know what you're going to major in yet?” He asked, continuing the small talk that we'd been having.

“Oh, um, well, I'm going back and forth between three choices. Either politics, history or sociology.”

“That’s cool. And are you single?”

I raised my eyebrow at him. Was he flirting with me? He was giving me such a cute smile and it didn’t seem like a serious question, so I gave him a non-serious answer, “You mean like, am I one person as oppose to multiple persons?”

He gave me a hearty laugh and it was contagious. I let myself forget about Ben for a few minutes. But then Henry stopped the car in front of Ben’s apartment, and I turned to him sharply. “Wait, you live here?” My eyes were probably bulging out of their sockets.

“My brother does.”

My heart did that thing where it stops for a second and then the second actually feels like hours and you think that your heart won’t restart again, and you feel like you’re about to die.

“Is your last name Wyatt?” My voice was a tiny whisper.

“Uh huh. Henry Wyatt.” He looked at me and probably noticed my pale face, because he suddenly sounded worried, “Leslie, are you okay?”

I tried to breathe through my nose and somehow found the strength to pretend I was fine. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m okay. Perfectly fine. I’m fine.”

I wasn't fine. I had been talking to Ben's brother the whole morning and now he's going to tell Ben that he met Leslie Knope and then they're going to compare notes and then Ben's going to tell him what an awful human being I was.

Henry got out of the car and ran to the passenger side to open the door for me. I prayed that my legs were still working so I wouldn’t fall when I stepped out of the car. But Henry had his hand out for me to take and I was thankful for that.

I followed him in the apartment and up to Ben’s room. My heart was pounding in my ears. I was thinking about what I would say if I saw Ben. I hesitated for a few seconds before I stepped inside.

I felt so relieved to find the room empty. Thank God, Ben wasn't around. I surveyed his room. It felt like I was invading a private part of Ben's world. I looked around and marveled at how huge and clean it was. Hell, it was definitely less cluttered than mine.

Henry told me to feel at home and he disappeared into the walk-in closet to get what he needed. And I was still standing like an idiot at the entrance. I noticed Ben's desk from across the room and I was really curious and started walking towards it.

Ben’s mahogany desk was neatly organized and a dozen action figures were displayed on shelves above it. My eyes caught a small shiny object half hidden behind a toy that looked like a green dwarf-like elf with long pointy ears. I looked closer and realized it was the Li’l Sebastian pin I had given him.

That sort of caught me by surprise, I thought he would have thrown that thing away, it was probably crap compared to the other fancy gifts he received. But seeing it on his shelf made me wonder why he kept it.

“Leslie?” The unmistakable sound of Ben saying my name had filled the room.

Hearing Ben’s voice made me panic. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like my soul had left me and I was just an empty shell and my stomach was laden with rocks and my feet were cemented on the floor. And I'm not even exaggerating any of this at all.

“Leslie.”

He said my name a second time and it sounded nearer which made me jump. I turned around and Ben was standing a few inches away from me. His nearness made me step back a little and I bumped into his desk. His hand shot out instinctively to keep me steady. I was such a nervous wreck. My brain had forgotten how to think. And his hands on my arms were burning a hole through me.

“Ben.” I managed to say in a raspy voice. I cleared my throat. He was staring at me and I stared back, my mind stopped functioning because I had no idea what to say next.

“Unhand my guest, little brother!” Henry’s loud voice cut through the dead air.

Ben broke eye contact with me to face his brother. “Henry? What are you doing here?” Ben dropped his hands to his side quickly like he was caught doing something illegal.

“Oh, I needed gloves. And I brought this lovely lady with me. Leslie, this is my brother, Ben. Ben, this is Leslie, she's working with me to help plan for the annual fair. And she's awesome and I'll probably marry her someday.” Henry joked.

Ben just stood there with his mouth open.

I just nodded, unable to tell Henry that I already met Ben. That I knew Ben. And that there was a lot of history between us. And that I was happy to see Ben again and that he looked good. Really good. A wave of emotion rushed through me as I realized how much I missed him. And oh my God, my brain was exploding at all the feelings I was feeling right now. I couldn't help but stare at Ben, like I was seeing him for the first time, in a different light. I wanted him to say more, to say something, anything that would assure me that he didn't hate me. But Ben looked as flustered as me.

"Huh, it seems that my brother has been rendered speechless. That doesn't happen often." Henry joked again, he turned to me and held out his elbow. “Are you ready to go, Les?” I placed my hand through it, very much aware that Ben was seeing all this unfold.

Before heading out, Henry said to both Ben and I, “You know what, I suddenly remember this funny story my brother told me. About a girl from this school named Leslie, who also happens to have nice blonde hair like yours.” At this point I noticed Ben had gone rigid and was glaring at his brother. And it dawned on me that Henry had done all of this on purpose.

“What did Ben say about this blonde girl?” I asked quietly, keeping my eyes on Ben, who was still staring hard at Henry. It looked like Ben was about to tackle Henry to the ground.

“Oh, that he really liked her, but he blew it big time. Because he's an idiot." Henry said, looking very amused with himself.

Ben exhaled loudly and caught my eyes. Ben gave me a tight and awkward smile, his mouth opened and closed like he wanted to say something but couldn't make up his mind.

Henry chuckled at his Ben's tortured look and announced, "Welp, we need to head back to the field. Still a lot of things to do today. Feel free to come by anytime, Benji."

Henry whisked me out of the Ben's room in a hurry. I was still in shock and confused about what just happened. I didn't even have time to say goodbye.

We got back into the car and immediately Henry apologized while we drove back to the park. "I'm so sorry, Leslie. I knew the minute you said your name that you were the girl my brother had told me about. I just wanted to get to know you first before you found out who I was."

"And what did you find out about me?" I could hear a little sass in my voice as I asked this. I was still examining how I felt about this deception. It was annoying that he withheld information from me, but I also got to see Ben again because of this. And now I know that Ben doesn't completely hate me because of what had happened. The encounter was awkward as hell, though and I wondered if things will ever be normal between Ben and I.

"I found out why my brother fell in love with you." I felt myself blush when I heard what he had to say. How was I supposed to reply to that? I was completely embarrassed that Henry was aware of what had happened between Ben and I. Henry continued, "Sorry, I know it's none of my business. But Ben's not like me. I inherited our father's straightforwardness and he inherited our mother's soft side. And when I found out that you flat out rejected him, well, I got really curious. I mean between the two of us, he's like the nicer dorkier one. And I never in a million years thought anyone would reject him."

We reached the park and I opened the door before Henry got out. I needed a little fresh air and wanted to be alone with my thoughts, so I walked ahead of him and continued with my work in silence. Henry tried to start a few more conversations, but I kept my answers short. I was still a little mad about earlier, I wasn't happy being assessed like some kind of goods to be checked for quality.

I was concentrating on drawing out the map where different booths would go, when I overheard a group of girls talking about the Wyatts.

"Oh, my God. Henry is super-hot. Brains and body. Perfect package. Just cool and overflowing with confidence." There was a long sigh that came out of the girls mouth after she made that announcement.

Another girl piped up, "But his brother, Ben, is the nice one. Their family donates to different kinds of charities, but Ben donates his time. He actually volunteers in those organizations. Ugh, my God, he's such a dreamboat."

"I hear they're both single. And are like the most sought-after bachelors. Super rich and not the obnoxious kind too." This was coming from another girl in the group.

One of the younger girls from the group excitedly told her story, “Ben helped me out big time on one of my projects. He’s so down to earth for a rich guy. I mean, when he found out I was failing a class, he was like, do you want me to help you study for the finals, and I was like, yes! And I passed that test because of him.”

“Ugh, what an amazing guy. I would kill to be his girlfriend.”

“I would die to make out with him for an hour.”

"He could literally step on me or hit me with his car."

I realized I'd been holding on to my clipboard too tightly while listening to all this chatter. I had enough of the daydreamers and walked to the opposite side of the gossiping girls. I was getting a little irritated that they were all lusting after Ben. I was also annoyed because it's not like we were together and why was I even feeling possessive about something that doesn't belong to me.

Henry stood beside me and looked over the map of the fair grounds. "Great job, Leslie. This is a really good planogram for the booths." His expression turned serious, when he tried to apologize again. "Look, I know you're angry about what I did. I'm really, really sorry."

I faced him and let him know how annoyed I was, "I don't appreciate being misled like that. Also, I don't appreciate that you took me to Ben's apartment to pull some kind of prank on him."

"Oh, it wasn't a prank. I really did need something from the apartment. I didn't realize he would be coming back so soon. And I really did want to get to know you better." Henry paused and brought out a charming smile. "I'm glad I did because I had one of the best conversations about women in government than I've ever had with anyone."

Even though I wanted to stay mad at Henry, my annoyance was disappearing as we worked together on the plans for the fair. Henry was eager to impart knowledge and every time he opened his mouth, I would learn a lot from him about organizing events. I was keeping an open mind now because the last time I judged a person it backfired big time on me. And Henry wasn't too bad. He was enjoyable to talk to, funny and smart. And so, I chose to forgive him. You're looking at Leslie 2.0, one that was a lot more chill than Leslie 1.0.

*************************************** ***

I had one more exam before the weekend hits. I had been studying hard for my Philo test. This was the test that Mark and I were supposed to have that study date for. He bailed on me though (not surprised), but he did ask for my notes to be sent to him through email, which I sent because even though I was mad at him, I still wanted him to pass the test.

I also wanted to see Mark so we could have talked about why he was a lying liar. OK, not that I would flat out say that to his face. But he was a liar. And I believed Ben 100%. I have come to terms that I made a huge mistake in my judgement. Which is really hard to admit, because I'm almost never wrong.

But I was wrong on this. And I wish I hadn't yelled at Ben, but the past is the past, so I'm trying to move forward. I focused on my classes and the upcoming university fair. Organizing the event took up most of my free time, I was working really hard with Henry to make sure it ran smoothly.

On the day of the exam, I noticed Mark sitting at the back and I didn't have time to talk to him before or after the test, but I'll figure out another time or way to have a conversation with him. I submitted my paper confidently and Professor Swanson gave me a nod of approval. Which meant a lot to me because he hardly ever did that for any of his students. I really felt positive about this. I still had a long way to go but at least my professor was acknowledging the fact that I was putting a lot of effort on his class.

After the test, I was free to focus on the event planning. A few times, Ben had come to the park to visit his brother. And since I was always around Henry, Ben and I sort of got to hang out again. It wasn't like before where he was really chatty, this time we often had long stretches of silence and if I glanced up I would sometimes catch Ben staring at me.

This time, I decided to call him out on it. "What are you staring at?" I asked with a smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just, you just, you're so good at this. You're like a ninja crossed with a Jedi or something."

I laughed because the term Jedi was the only thing I know about Star Wars. "You're being nerdy again."

"Star Wars is not that nerdy."

"Well I haven't seen any of it."

"And I'm pretty sure that's considered a crime. We need to fix that. You should come over to my apartment sometime and we can watch it together. I have all of it in blue-ray."

"Oh yeah? Um, sure, I'd, um, I'd love that." I stammered a little, I was thinking about sitting on a couch next to him while we watched it. It looked like a date in my mind. But I didn't want to get my hopes up. Ben was probably just being nice.

We were back to being silent again. But at least we were talking. After that night I yelled at him, I really thought I'd never get to talk to him again. And even if we couldn’t be romantically involved, at least we could still be friends. And friendship is better because friends help you move. They drive you to the airport. Boyfriends just love you and marry you. The last part was meant to be a joke but it stung a little bit as I thought about it.

******************************************

The day of the University Fair was super stressful. Henry and I had to firefight a couple of drastic issues that threatened opening night. The band cancelled on us due to an emergency with the lead singer, but I called Andy and Mouserat was available to take over at the last minute. And we were back on schedule again.

Henry gave an awesome speech before he sent us to our posts. The event started off with a few words from the University Board and then Mouserat took over and the fun started. I walked around the park and felt so proud of what we had accomplished. We had a lot of student turnout and citizens who lived nearby were also enjoying the booths that we set up.

"Hey." Ben appeared beside me with cotton candy on his hand. He offered it to me, and I gladly took it. "Congratulations, Leslie. This fair is by far the best I have ever been to."

I beamed at his compliment. "Well, your brother is amazing at his job."

"Speaking of the devil." Ben said sarcastically, when Henry joined us.

"What do you think, Ben?"

"I was just telling Leslie what a wonderful job you guys did."

Henry draped his arm on my shoulder and said proudly, "Leslie made it easy, she did most of my job." It didn’t go unnoticed that Ben was glaring at his brother again.

"So, what are you guys good friends now?" Ben asked suspiciously.

"The best." Henry laughed, "Alright, I'm gonna leave you two lovebirds alone. Great job again, Leslie. Enjoy your fruits of labor." He disappeared among the crowd, leaving Ben and I alone.

"Sometimes, I really hate my brother." Ben joked.

We walked around the park side by side. We stopped in front of a carnival booth where you throw darts at balloons to win a prize. Ben bought a few tokens and he was actually pretty good. He won a medium sized prize and he let me choose which one to take from the selection. I picked the cute panda one.

Ben and I were checking off names for my new panda stuffed toy when he spotted Shauna and Stephanie. We headed to them and I braced myself with having to interact with Shauna again. Shauna gave Ben a kiss on the cheek. Which I assumed was how rich people greeted each other and that it wasn't because Shauna and Ben were now dating. I hoped to God they weren't dating.

Oh, my God. What if they were dating? I mean, I rejected Ben, so he's probably moved on by now. But then again, Ben didn't come to the fair with her. Ughh! Why was I overthinking this? I basically had no right to know if Ben had moved on. I mean, I did yell at him that I didn't want what he had to offer.

"Hi Leslie. I heard that you helped out with this event." Stephanie politely said to me. "This is really amazing what you guys did."

"Thank you! I learned so much from your brother."

"Henry is amazing. I love him to death." Shauna said in her sweet sappy voice. "Oh, hey, where's your boyfriend, Mark Berdernawiz? Brendanawitch, I always forget how to say his last name." Shauna wondered out loud.

She didn't notice that Stephanie paled at the mention of Mark. It seemed that Shauna had no idea what Mark had done to Stephanie or else she wouldn't have mentioned his name in front of her. And that means, Shauna isn't as close a friend to Stephanie as she made herself out to be.

"Mark is not my boyfriend. Nor my friend at this point." I said, hoping that she'd drop the topic. I was well aware that Ben had released a deep breath at hearing this information.

It looked like my answer greatly annoyed Shauna, since she probably hoped that my having a boyfriend would mean I would leave Ben alone. "That's too bad. Don't worry, though, Leslie. I'm sure an ordinary looking person like you will find someone."

Before I could react, Ben came to my defense, "Leslie is not ordinary looking. She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever met." I felt my ears burn as all the blood from my body rushed to my head. Shauna's jaw dropped to the floor at this statement and Stephanie was smiling from ear to ear.

Ben Wyatt just called me beautiful. I tried to hide my huge smile behind the cotton candy I was holding. This was turning out to be the best night of my life.

Little did I know that on Monday, I would be experiencing the worst day of my life…


	10. Chapter 10

"Do you know what I hate more than lying?" Professor Swanson said in a menacing tone. Except that he probably thinks it's just his normal voice, but it sounded really threatening to me.

He was staring at me with his piercing eyes, sitting behind his desk, his hands forming a triangle with his pointer fingers and thumbs pressed together. Mark and I were sitting in front of him. My feet were tapping uncontrollably on the floor and I was running out of nails to bite. Mark was just slouching in his chair looking unaffected.

We had been summoned by email to come to his office this morning. I had no idea what this was about but the tone that he was using told me that we were in big trouble.

"Cheating." He said that one word with obvious disgust and it dropped heavily on me. I wasn't guilty of anything, but my eyes averted to the sawed-off shotgun that was mounted on his desk. Staring at a barrel of a gun was less daunting as staring into my professor's eyes.

I was so confused right now. Why does he think we cheated?

"I don't understand, Professor. I've never cheated in my entire life." I said weakly, remembering the Halloween candies I had stolen from my neighbor when she wasn't looking, back when we were seven. Technically, that doesn't count. And I know I've never done anything like that in his class but the way he looked at me, made me question if I had indeed cheated on something, somehow.

Professor Swanson placed two papers on his desk, side by side. I saw one with my name on it and another one was Mark's. "Then please explain to me how your answers are identical to each other's."

I looked over to Mark. He was still slouched but now he was pale and wouldn't meet my eyes. I was sure that my answers were my own. And Mark had been sitting way at the back so he wouldn't have copied from my paper. The only explanation I could think of was that he had used my study notes to answer the essay questions. And those were the exact words I used too because I've memorized my study notes. I highly doubt that Mark would have memorized them. Which means he had the notes with him during the test.

I can't believe he didn't even bother paraphrasing what I'd wrote on there. My brain was jumping around trying to think of how to explain this without throwing Mark under the bus. But I came up blank. And it didn't look like he would confess anytime soon.

"Both of you will get a failing grade on this course. I will be submitting an incident report to the dean regarding this situation. If one of you is innocent in this, speak now before the end of the day."

I couldn't speak. I was numb all over my body and I felt the blood drain from my head. One failed course would mean the end of my scholarship.

"I can't fail this course, sir." I was half in tears and my voice was all choked up.

"Then I suggest you tell me what happened."

"I--" I looked over to Mark for help. He was looking at the floor and I wanted to strangle him. Was he really going to leave me hanging here? Oh my, God... What the fuck do I do?

"This meeting is over." Professor Swanson announced with finality. He looked pointedly at the door, silently telling us to get out. Mark shot up from his chair and left the room quicker than I could react. I chased after him.

"Mark, wait!" I yelled across the hall. He stopped and slowly faced me. "What the fuck, Mark. I'm going to lose my scholarship! Get back in there and tell him the truth!" I had tears in my eyes, I was so angry at him.

"Leslie, I'm sorry. I can't confess. It would go on my record that I purposely cheated."

"Something would still go on your record. Mine too and I had nothing to do with this. Are you really that selfish?"

"Look, if you're involved, Swanson's gonna make it less of a big deal than he would if it were just me. I'm really sorry about this, Leslie. But I have so much shit on my record right now and cheating would get me expelled. I'll help you figure out the scholarship thing, okay. Please, I can't have it on my record that I cheated." He stepped closer to me and tried to wipe the tears off my face, but by instinct I stepped back, out of his reach.

"Don't touch me." I whispered. I can't believe this. I wanted to drag him by the ears back to Professor Swanson's office and slap a confession out of him. But I also didn't want him to get kicked out of school.

"I'm sorry, Leslie. I really am." Mark said sounding sincere. He turned slowly and started walking away.

_Oh my, God. My life was over._

**************************************

I had been crying for hours now. I couldn't even make it back to my dorm, so I just found a quiet corner and was sitting crossed legged with my back leaning on the wall. I was glad that there weren't a lot of foot traffic in the staff building today. But that was practically the only thing I was glad about. Everything else was just dark and gloomy. Bleak and dead. I couldn't come up with more adjectives to describe how fucked up the situation was.

I have never in my life been accused of cheating. This was a whole new level of low for me. I wanted to clear my name so badly, but I was torn with what Mark had told me about him being kicked out. He was an asshole for sure. But I could never forgive myself for not helping him out in whatever shitty hole he dug himself into.

I cried harder every time I thought about calling my mom and telling her what happened. She was so proud of me when I got into this prestigious university. I was imagining the disappointment in her eyes. Her only daughter had failed her.

"Leslie?"

No. No. No. No. No. No. Oh, God, no. Please let it be anyone but Ben. I didn't want him to see me like this. It would just be another reason for him to regret that he even thought of going out with me.

But I knew it was him. I know the sound of his voice. And I know how my name rolls off his tongue when he says it.

"What happened?" He was sitting next to me now, on the floor, looking at me with so much concern that I burst out sobbing again. I felt his arms wrap around me and I cried in his chest, just like I did before. For the second time in my short college life, I had stained Ben's shirt with my pathetic tears.

I tried to tell him everything that had happened in a coherent way and I think in between sobs and hiccups and deep breaths he understood what I was saying.

He cupped my face and wiped the tears off with his thumbs. "Look at me, Leslie." He said with intensity. "You will not lose your scholarship. Do you hear me. I won't let that happen."

Hearing him say those words with so much confidence calmed me a little, but I still had my doubts. "There's nothing that can be done about it!" I cried for a few more minutes. Ben just sat silently, his hand rubbing my back and occasionally patting my head. I cried until my tears ran out.

Ben sensing my sobs were lessening, said, "Come on. Let's get you back to your dorm." He handed me his handkerchief and I blew my nose in it. This was the second hanky that I have that's his. They were monogrammed with the letters BW, that I hadn't noticed before. I took his hand and he helped me up. We stood face to face for a few seconds. Staring into each other's eyes. My hands in his. This was like those scenes in TV shows where the guy would lean down and make out with the leading lady. And my heart jumped into my throat because I was getting choked up for a different reason now.

"I promise, Leslie, everything will be alright." Ben gave me the softest smile. I may have melted right then and there because my knees were weak, and I just wanted to take his face and kiss him. Instead, I returned the smile and we walked back together to the direction of my dorm. My hand tightly intertwined with his.

*************************************

Ben ordered take out and we ate lunch in my room. He kept telling me not to worry and he would help ensure that I would not lose my scholarship, but how he was going to achieve that was still a question. I do know that he was distracting me from my problem by talking to me about his hobbies. Our conversation floated around the absurd plot to his novel that he wanted to write someday. We laughed over the weird plot lines involving alien robots.

He left when April and Ann showed up. He'd texted an SOS to them and they came as soon as they could. I didn't even know that he'd done that. I smiled at him and mouthed 'thank you', and he smiled back before he awkwardly left the room.

I told Ann and April everything that had happened. Ann wanted to go find Mark and beat the confession out of him. April wanted to put a curse on him that would make him vomit razor blades. That one earned a raised eyebrow from me. I hoped April was joking.

They encouraged me to go to my other classes for the day. And try to get through it. I managed to do that, but once I got back in my room and I was alone with my thoughts, I immediately start crying again. I cursed my tear ducts which were always ready to spill tears any time my emotions surfaced. I kept imagining my permanent record and how clean it was until that report gets submitted. Scenes popped in my head where I'd have to pack my stuff when they kick me out of school. And that I'd have to say goodbye to all my friends. And say goodbye to Ben.

This was not how I imagined my college life would be. I hadn't even made it halfway through and I was about to get kicked out. I was supposed to graduate with honors, that was the goal. Now, I'd have to find another college that would even take me in, with my tarnished reputation.

*************************************

I was so drained of energy that I didn't even notice when I had fallen asleep. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 9 am. I didn't have any classes this morning, thank God. But none of that mattered anymore if I was going to get expelled anyway. I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from crying. I was going to try not to cry today.

I searched for my phone to check my email. I was so sure that I would get a letter from the sponsors of my scholarship, telling me that I failed as a human being and that if I could just start packing my bags and leave the school right now. But there was nothing. Not even from the dean telling me that an incident report was submitted about me.

Did Professor Swanson forget to submit it? He's not the type to forget stuff. Does it take more than a day to get the alert emails? Not knowing was making me panic. I was now coming up with a hundred theories, when the door to our room burst open and Andy and April came tumbling in.

"Leslie, oh, my God, you won't believe what happened last night." Andy said, breathless.

"What? What happened?" I asked, fear creeping up on me, wondering what the news was about.

"Ben and Mark got into a fist fight!" Andy gave me a shocked look like it was the first time he heard of the news. April was smiling from ear to ear.

"They were fighting about you, Leslie." April said, her eyes wide like she couldn't believe it.

"What?" This was the most confusing story ever.

"Yeah, April and I were hanging out in the Math building. Heavily making out. And then we saw Ben storming up the stairs and he like, yelled Mark's name from across the building."

"We didn't even notice Mark was there. If I had seen him, I would have had Andy beat him up." April interjected.

"And then Mark's like, 'what do you want, Ice Town?' And Ben's like, 'you need to tell Swanson that you cheated'. And then Ben looked like his veins were gonna pop out when he said, 'you need to clear Leslie's name'. And Mark was like, 'No fucking way, nerd. That's between me and Leslie. And what I do with her is none of your business'. And then you could see Ben turn red all over his face before he threw a punch at Mark, but sadly he missed Mark's head by like a mile." Andy said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Your boyfriend needs to take punching lessons, Leslie." April added dryly.

I was still too shocked to say anything at this point and Andy continued with his story.

"So, then Mark counter punched him, and it landed straight at Ben's face and it knocked him down to the ground." Andy mimicked a punch for emphasis.

My hands instinctively cover my mouth in disbelief. Oh, my God. I hope Ben is Ok.

"That's when Andy stepped in to help Ben and I jumped on Mark's back and grappled his neck."

"And then Ben got up and was like, 'if you don't clear Leslie's name from this, I'm going to make sure that you not only get expelled but that your expulsion will follow you to every school that you try to get into. Think about how that will turn out for you, Mark.' And you could tell Ben was serious, and he sounded really angry when he added, 'and I never want to see you near Leslie again'. Ben looked really scary, I've never seen him like that, Leslie."

I couldn't believe how Andy memorized the lines word for word. But more importantly, I couldn't believe Ben had done that.

And right on cue, I heard my phone alerting me that I had just received an email. I rushed to unlock my phone and tapped on the inbox. It was a letter from Professor Swanson.

_Dear Leslie,_

_Mark Brendanawicz has confessed to cheating all on his own._

_You are cleared from all the charges and I will not be submitting any report under your name._

_Good day,_

_Ron Swanson_

I felt like a ton of weight had lifted from my shoulders. Tears poured out of my eyes again and I showed April and Andy the email. They were both cheering about it, Andy running around wildly in the room. I smiled so wide; my cheeks started to hurt.

I can't believe it. Ben had saved me from losing my scholarship.

"Oh my, God, I need to go see if Ben's Okay." I blurted out. I hurried to put on my shoes and left the two behind as I rushed to get to Ben's apartment.

*************************************

I was out of breath running up the stairs until I was in front of Ben's door. I hesitated for a few seconds, my heartbeat pumping in my ears, before I knocked.

"Go away." I heard Ben's muffled voice from inside.

"It's me, Leslie." I said out loud. I heard a shuffle and the door swung open. Ben had a plastic bag of something frozen pressed over his right eye.

"Are those frozen calzones?" I asked in surprise when I realized what they were. Ben side stepped to let me in, and I followed him to the couch near his bed. He plopped down on it and I sat next to him.

"Yes, I happen to like calzones and always have a frozen bag in the fridge for emergencies."

"Let me see your eye." I reached out and slowly lifted the bag away from his face. The skin below his eye was swollen red. "Oh my, God, Ben. Does it hurt?" I was still holding on to his hand that had the frozen calzone. My hand was starting to feel numb, so I let it fall to my lap and he placed the bag over his eye again.

"Not yet."

"I can't believe you did that." My voice came out low and quiet. "Thank you, for getting Mark to confess."

"It was nothing. I shouldn't have tried to punch him."

"Seriously, Ben. I owe you everything." I looked into his eyes and I desperately wondered if he still had feelings for me. Because right now, I was feeling a lot of feelings for him.

He wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if he didn't, right?

His hand reached out to my face and tucked a strand of loose blonde curl behind my ear, his knuckles caressed and lingered on my cheek as he did this, "I would do anything for--"

Ben's sentence was cut short by a loud bang as the door to his room burst open. We both jumped up at the loud noise. Chris Traeger scanned the room and found us on the couch.

"Ben Wyatt!" Chris pointed to Ben. "Your fight with Mark has spread all over campus. Hi, Leslie Knope." Chris said excitedly, all in one breath.

"Chris, I didn't know you were back." I said, shocked to see Chris. I hadn't heard from him since he'd broken up with Ann. He looked really tan.

"I just got back yesterday, and I have a lot of catching up to do with Ben." Ben stared at Chris with his good eye. Ben looked annoyed and I was too. There was no denying that we were having some major sparks moment right before Chris burst our bubble.

"Yeah, I should be going." I said, I wasn't comfortable with Chris yet. I was reminded that he broke Ann's heart and I might end up doing something stupid if I stayed longer.

"See you around, Leslie." Chris said cheerfully. I wanted to punch the smile from his face. Did he really think I'd be nice to him after what he did to Ann?

I got out of the apartment in a flash and dialed Ann's number. I needed to warn her that Chris was back. She had to be prepared in case she bumped into him.

I didn't know what to make of this. I wanted to spend more time with Ben, but I also wanted to stay away from Chris. And Chris was Ben's Ann. They were inseparable. I didn't know if I could start something with Ben, knowing that I'd have to hang out with Chris. Ann would feel betrayed. I could never betray my best friend. Not in a million years. But I also could not help feeling my heart break a million pieces realizing that Ben and I were never going to happen.

_Dear universe, why do you hate me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the endgame now...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I have edited Chapters 1-10 and posting that along with this last chapter. Nothing major that changed the plot, but just more reactions and observations and trying to make the characters sound more like themselves. Thank you so much for sticking around until the very end. This story really means a lot to me and has gotten my mind off stressful times in my real life. I appreciate every single comment and kudos and they really make my day. So, thank you!

Ann was painting my nails red. She was spending the night in my room; we hadn’t had a lot of time to talk since I got super busy planning for the annual fair. But she was caught up with what Ben had done to save me from losing my scholarship. I was a little worried how she was taking this whole 'Chris is back' situation.

"How are you?" I asked her. Ann was focused on not messing up my nail polish.

"I'm ok." She answered absentmindedly, not understanding my true question.

"I mean, how are you?" I repeat with a little more emphasis.

Ann looked up and grasped what I was really asking. "I'll be ok, Leslie. I mean, it's been hard. I really loved Chris. I was hurt and confused because I thought he loved me too. And finding out why he broke up with me made me so mad. At first, I thought it was closure. But when I started to miss him, I got really angry that he didn't fight for me, for us. So, I kind of switch between angry and hurt. But I'm going to be fine. I just need to get through it with the help of a lot of distractions. And alcohol." She laughed at the last part.

I gave her a soft smile, I wished I could help her heal faster. Ann didn't deserve to be hurt like that. "Oh Ann, you beautiful fluffy tiger. I know you'll be fine. And I will always be your distraction. God knows I need a makeover on every aspect of my life and you're basically in charge of that."

Ann finished the last of my nail and handed my hand back to me. She looked at me seriously as she said, "Leslie, I know you said you don't want to talk about you and Ben. But you need to tell me at least a summarized version of everything that's happened. And I want you to start from the beginning."

She was right. I really needed her advice on what to do with Ben. I was keeping it from her before because I didn't want to get to the part where Ben said mean things about my best friend in the world. But now that she knows a little bit about it, it would be better if she learned why Ben did what he did. Also, I didn't want her to hate Ben. I know it's weird, but I wanted Ann to like Ben, to approve of Ben.

I took a deep breath and I tell her everything. She held off from saying anything as I told my story. She took my hands when I started getting teary-eyed as I got to the huge fight Ben and I had. And I ended with Ben and I almost having a moment before Chris interrupted us.

"Oh, my God. He still loves you, Leslie!" Ann finally burst out. Her hands going to her chest, she was beaming from ear to ear at me.

I shook my head, "I don't think so, Ann. You weren't there when I said all those things about him to his face."

"But he went to all that effort to clear your name. Can you imagine Ben trying to throw a punch at Mark?"

"I know, I couldn't believe it too."

"Look, Ben may have acted like a jerk at the start, but I think he's fallen hard for you. And he's really trying. Some guys are so dense that even when they realize they've done something wrong; they don't even make a big deal out of it. But Ben seems to care about what you think of him."

"I really blew it though. I mean, I practically told him that I would never go out with him, ever." 

“But that was during a fight. He knows you were angry then and didn’t mean it.”

“Ugh! I don’t even know if I should have a relationship. Look what it almost did to one of my classes. Boys are just trouble.”

“Oh Leslie, there will be times it’s rocky but there will be more times when it’s the best thing. And I get that you want to focus on your studies but also don’t close yourself up from having a relationship with someone if the right person comes.”

“I hope you’re right, Ann.” Ann gave me a tight hug and I was starting to feel a little better, even if the Ben situation seemed like a hopeless cause.

"So, do we scratch Ben’s name out from the list of people to never interact with again?" Ann asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Keep it there, I need to accept that he’ll probably never ask me out again. But you should add Chris's name on there too. Let’s just stay away from both of them to be safe."

"Those two really did a number on us, didn't they?" I nodded my head and couldn’t agree more to what she had just said. Ann sighed, "Alright, time to move on. I'm going to teach you how to make the perfect smoky eyes." Ann rummaged inside her purse for her black eyeliner.

***************************************

"You look amazing, Leslie." Ann said as she put the finishing touches on my face. I looked in the mirror and admired her masterpiece. Of course, I wouldn't be able to replicate this on my own, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

There was a knock on our door and Ann yelled, "Come in!" And to both our surprise, Chris stepped in through the open door.

"Get out!" Ann yelled when she recovered from the sight of Chris.

"Ann Perkins. Please give me a chance to explain." Chris begged. He looked desperate. 

"There's nothing to explain, Chris. I don't want to talk to you. Get out."

"Just give me five minutes. That's all I ask."

Ann crossed her arms and she stared at Chris angrily. I could see the wheels turning in her head. "Five minutes. Starting now."

I look at Ann and she gave me a nod, "I'll be outside if you need me." I assured her. I got out as fast as I could to offer them privacy and was startled to see Ben leaning on the wall across our room. He immediately stood up straight when he saw me. 

I felt my heartbeat racing again and managed to say, "Hey. I didn't know you were here." Ben was wearing sunglasses to cover his black eye. And I'll be damned if I don't admit that he looked really hot in them.

"Yeah, I'm just here for moral support." Ben smiled.

"Did you have anything to do with this too?" I asked him.

"No, no. This is all Chris. I just drove him here. Yeah, he told his dad that he was going to continue seeing Ann. Chris made a compelling argument about how he should be trusted to make his own decisions and that he would make sure that his grades weren't failing. And it was basically the only thing he talked about during their trip that his dad finally caved just to get him to shut up." Ben explained.

"Oh, well then."

"You look really pretty, Leslie." Ben said in a rush. He looked embarrassed after he said it. 

I was probably burning red all over my face. "Oh, this whole thing. Ann was experimenting on my face." I laughed nervously.

"I like it. Your eyes are beautiful."

His words make me want to melt on the floor. "I like your face too." I blurted out. And immediately I wanted to smack my forehead. Oh, my God. Why did I just say that?

"Thank you." He said with a little laugh.

"Listen, I really want to thank you again for confronting Mark. I'm sorry I didn't hear you out first when you kept on telling me that Mark was an asshole."

"No, I totally get it. I was a real jerk to you at times and I can understand why you wouldn't believe me. And I'm really, really sorry that I made you feel bad about yourself. I'm-- this is all quite new to me and I'm not really-- sometimes, I don't know what's the right thing to say." Ben stammered.

"Ben, I--" I was cut off mid-sentence when the door popped open and Chris came out to the hallway. I don't know whether to feel annoyed or relieved that Chris interrupted what I was about to say. I didn't even know where I was headed with that statement really.

"Hi Leslie." Chris said cheerfully as he gestured for Ben that he’ll be waiting outside.

"Uh, yeah, I gotta go. See you later, Les." Ben said quietly. He looked like he had a lot on his mind.

I get back into the room and see Ann shaking her head. "What happened?" I asked.

"He wants to get back together again." Ann said in disbelief.

"And?"

"I don't know if I want to get back with him, Leslie. I'm still angry at him. So, I told him, I'd think about it."

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

"Yes, I still love that optimistic cheerful idiot." Ann said exasperatedly. 

"That's great then!"

"I'm just going to make him suffer for a bit. Before I tell him."

I hugged Ann. I was happy for her. And happy for me, if she gets back with Chris, then that means, Ben and I could hang out again. That is, if he still wanted to hang out with me.

***************************************

The alarm clock on my desk said it was around 1:30 AM. Ann was sleeping soundly on April's bed. I had been staring all night at my ceiling. I couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about Ben. I needed to clear my head and decided to get some fresh air. 

I put on my jacket over my pajama and walked to Freedom Park. I was grateful that this beautiful piece of land was right in front of my dorm. There was hardly anyone in the park at this unholy hour. I sat on one of the benches and hugged my knees to my chest. The moon shone brightly that night. I stared at the stars and marveled at how small I was compared to the vast entirety of the universe. I was hoping to see a wishing star and maybe I could wish that I could forget about Ben so that I wouldn't always feel like dying every time I thought about how I was never going to know what it was like to be with him.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see a silhouette of someone walking towards me. Normally, I would freak out and probably run back to the dorm as fast as I could. But I knew who it was.

My heart did that wild beating that it usually does whenever Ben's around. I couldn't explain how I was so sure it was him. But I just knew. Just like how he always knew where I was and always managed to find me.

Ben stopped in front of me and reached out a hand towards me. I took it and he pulled me up off the bench. I was standing in front of him, my hand still in his.

"Your hands are cold." I said absentmindedly.

"Yes, they are." He replied with a smile.

"How do you always manage to find me?" I asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged and gave me tight-lipped smile, "I think, I'm always just wandering around, looking for you."

My chest was getting heavy. I was bursting with so much emotions right now, I wasn't even sure how to express what I was feeling. 

"Thank you. Thank you for finding me when I was in my lowest. Thank you for helping me. I don't deserve any of it." I whispered.

"Everything I did, Leslie. It was all for you." Ben placed his palm on the side of my face. "The last time we were standing out here in the park, you said some things. And if you still feel that way, I'll leave you alone. My feelings have not changed, I'm still crazy about you and maybe even more so now. But just say the words, Leslie, and I'll go." 

I was elated to hear what he had just said. There was still hope after all. "Here's what I'll say," I paused and let my emotions pour out of my words, "I love you and I like you."

"I love you and I like you." Ben replied. He leaned down and finally kissed me. The world stopped and there was nothing except for his soft lips on mine. I got on my tip toes to circle my arms around his neck as I kissed him back, releasing all my repressed feelings for him. 

We pulled apart and stare at each other's faces. "That was nice." I managed to say breathlessly.

"You don't know how I've been wanting to do that for so long now." Ben confessed.

"I didn't realize that kissing could feel that good. I mean, it was, that was my first kiss. Oh, God. I don't know why I just told you that. But I thought you needed to know, to explain why I was so nervous. And I liked it. I really liked it. I think I could actually do that all day. Well, maybe I'd need to take breaks from time to time, but making out all day sounds really nice--“ 

"Leslie?"

"Hmmm?" 

"Please stop talking." Ben said teasingly. We both laughed and then he took me by the waist as he kissed me again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! I'm planning on a sequel. :D working title is Crazy Rich Wyatts. So, if you've read that book, you kind of have an idea what the sequel will be about. 


End file.
